Spidey Short Stories!
by Al Evans
Summary: This in an anthology series of various Spider-Man short stories, drabbles and things like that. They are usually based on the comics and context is provided for readers unfamiliar with the canon when necessary. I hope you enjoy and please leave feedback!
1. Chapter 1: The Audition

**_Mary Jane has scored an audition for a play and can't wait to tell everyone down at the Coffee Bean. Could this be her start on the road to stardom?_**

 _This takes place roughly during Spider-Man's college days, when Peter was dating Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane was dating Harry Osborn. We're talking mainly the comics published in the mid-late 1960s and early 1970s._

 _Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback._

* * *

Mary Jane strolled into the Coffee Bean and made a beeline for a table in the corner.

"Hey pretty people. I hope those coffees are decaf since you'll be awake all night after you hear _this_ news..."

The three of them stared at her in anticipation. Harry Osborn had his usual look of desperately trying not to drool whenever he saw MJ (he still couldn't quite believe he was going out with her).

Gwen Stacy was displaying polite curiosity, with a slightly raised eyebrow. It was the only clue to the somewhat catty cynicism she sometimes regarded Mary Jane with, despite their friendship.

Peter though was simply looking at MJ with genuine curiosity and nothing else particularly noteworthy. It was nonetheless his reaction MJ was most interested in observing since (at the back of her mind) she was all but certain of quite a few noteworthy things about Mr. Parker.

"I've got an audition for Macbeth tomorrow! I'm gonna light up Broadway!"

Harry's eyes bulged. "You're gonna be on Broadway?"

" _Harry..."_ Gwen cut in "...she said she had an _audition._ And I didn't even know there was a production of Macbeth on Broadway."

MJ overdramatically pointed her finger out to Gwen.

"Right you are Galloping Gwendolyn. The production is a small thing off-Broadway. But it's just lil' ol' Mary Jane's first bouncin' baby step until her name is all up there spelled out in lights."

Peter gave an encouraging little smile that MJ took a bit more notice of than she ought to.

"Well good luck MJ. Who're you auditioning for?"

"Why Lady M. herself Petey-pie."

"A lady who can get a man to kill for her. You just _might_ go far with that Ms. Watson."

"Hey Ms. Stacy I ain't caused curly here to kill anyone yet!" She jabbed a thumb in Harry's direction.

"It'd take more than you to make me go that far Mary Jane."

"Maybe I'll just have to try harder Harry m'lad."

"When's the audition?" Asked Peter.

"Next week tiger. Just think. Seven sleeps from now and you all can say 'It was on that day she told us. On that day we saw not the young and ever beautiful aspiring actress, but the star hidden within her'"

MJ clasped her hands together and looked up at the ceiling as she said this, giving an over the top performance of them all addressing some make believe interviewer.

"Bravo!" Harry clapped.

"Oh brother" Gwen whispered.

Peter didn't say anything. He just gave her another polite smile which elated MJ almost as much as all of Harry's puppy like elation.

* * *

One week later the skies had opened up. The rain was pretty heavy and had sent New Yorker's scurrying into almost anywhere that seemed warm and dry. The Coffee Bean was one such locale Peter, Gwen and Harry had decided to shelter in. Harry and Gwen were chatting away at a table whilst Peter had gone up to pay for thier coffees. He also bought a chocolate bar and broke off some of it and before he began eating it.

"Hey tiger, you know those aren't too healthy." Said a voice behind him. Peter turned to see MJ. He swallowed before addressing her.

"Oh hi MJ. Yeah, well I'm starving. I and haven't had time to grab anything all day. And it's been kind of a rough day as is..."

As they walked towards Gwen and Harry's table, MJ noted some small cuts and bruises on Peter's face and how he was wincing a little.

"...So I'm sort of hanging to this thing for dear life."

"I know the feeling Petey-pie." She beamed at him, giving him a bigger and brighter smile than she ever had before. A smile which was slightly too big to be believed.

"Hey scooch over lover and let me rest my poor little soles." Harry practically fell out of his chair to allow MJ to sit down when they got to the table.

"Do you have _your's_ this well trained Gwendy?" Asked MJ as she sat down.

"No red. Petey's _better_ trained. I don't even have to ask."

MJ giggled, with her laughter lasting just a bit longer than usual "Trust you to get a one up, Smilin' Stacy. That's so typical"

After MJ stopped laughing, they all stared at her in awkward silence, waiting to hear what she'd say next. MJ simply took a sip of the coffee Harry had gotten for her and then casually stared round the coffee house. She nodded towards the entrance.

"Man this weather is crazy right! If I'd known it'd be like this I would've taken some shampoo out the apartment with me."

They all continued to stare and looked somewhat confused. MJ suddenly placed her hands on the table and leaned in with her eyes blazing.

"Hey? Wouldn't it be wild if this was the work of one of those spandex cuckoos you hear about? I bet one of them can make it rain like this. Petey _you_ got know something in that big beautiful brain of yours right?"

Peter looked taken aback "Wha...What?"

"Your job...You work for Jolly Jonah you'd know if some loony super villain was making with the cats and dogs outside right?"

"I...well..."

" _MJ!_ " Said Gwen rather annoyed.

"Yes Blondie" She replied back

"The job. The audition. Macbeth. We're waiting to hear what happened"

"Oh _that!_ "MJ looked like the thought hadn't even occurred to her until just now. She nonchalantly sat back in her seat, resting her arm on Harry's shoulder.

"I didn't get the job. They said I was rotten and needed acting lessons. No need to hold your breath about it guys, there're plenty more fish in the sea and some of them don't speak in poetry. The world can wait a little longer before I set it on fire."

"Aw well that's too bad MJ. Nevermind. Hey! _I_ could pay for those acting lessons for you! Although I'd need to talk to my dad about it. Actually he should be outside right now, we're going over to Captain Stacy's house with Gwen. You wanna come while I ask him?"

MJ adopted a look of mock-incredulity. "No way Jose. This almost-thespian isn't going back out there for another bath anytime soon! "

"Oh...well, okay. C'mon Gwen, let's get going."

"Um...sure thing Har'." Gwen got up and turned to Peter.

"You sure you don't want a lift?"

"Nah, you're going in the opposite direction to me. I'm heading home soon anyway. See you tomorrow."

"Okay. Bye man-o-mine" She kissed Peter goodbye and followed Harry out the exit. For a few moments Peter and Mary Jane sat in silence. MJ was starring around the Coffee Bean quietly humming under her breath and smiling slightly. Peter was looking down at his half finished chocolate bar.

"Hey MJ..." MJ stopped her humming and turned to Peter tilting her head slightly to one side and looking quizzical. Peter looked up.

"I don't think you need acting lessons...I think they were blind to turn you down"

With that MJ's eye was drawn to Peter's hand, as he placed the remainder of his chocolate in front of her. She looked up again as he got up to leave and ascended the stairs back outside.

MJ stared after him blankly for a long while before she slowly picked up the bar and stroked it with her thumb.

She didn't say another word all night.


	2. Chapter 2: Bye-Bye Birdie

**_Once upon a time Mary Jane had dreams of making it big as an actress. But now she's not so sure about that or of some other things in her life either..._**

 _This story is set roughly during the Spider-Man comics published in the mid-late 1970s. It's after the 1970s Clone Saga and Peter and Mary Jane are quite seriously dating._

 _Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback._

* * *

The sky was quite overcast, which Mary Jane Watson felt reflected her mood rather nicely. She headed to the Coffee Bean with noticeably less spring in her step than usual. It was then that she saw a certain Peter Parker walking up the stairs which led to the coffee house. She strolled up to him.

"Hey tiger. You won't believe the day I've had"

"Oh hi Mary Jane" said Peter, looking somewhat flustered. His greeting seemed rather automatic to MJ. This didn't improve her mood. Nor did her boyfriend's lack of follow up to her last remark.

Regardless, (and without asking where he was going) MJ walked beside Peter and decided to vent her frustrations.

"Rehearsals today were absolutely rotten. The director just doesn't know what he's doing. Not that it would help with a script that rotten."

"Uh-huh" It sounded to MJ that Peter clearly wasn't listening, but she pressed on anyway.

"And the egos in that room. Look I know I'm not exactly the most modest person in the world, but even _I_ draw the line somewhere. Leopold is practically demanding the whole play change just to accommodate him."

"Man...that...sucks..." Peter was craning his head to the side to try to stare down the street. Faintly MJ could hear sirens in the distance.

 _But he wouldn't...not now?_ She thought. _It's so far away. And we haven't seen each other properly in over a week. And even before that he ditched me on our last three dates. He's got to know he's on thin ice..._

She simply continued as if she hadn't noticed anything.

"This whole thing. This whole job I have now, it just sucks. I know everyone who wants to break into this business has to start somewhere but it's just been so long since I've felt really excited about acting and everything. I'm beginning to not think it's worth it. Like I saw a casting call for a musical the other day but it's as if I don't have the energy to follow it up. It can't be worse than this but I just don't think I can go through the whole tension of auditioning just to face _another_ rejection. I just feel the whole thing is pointless right now. It's just seems so impossible"

"Ohhhh noooo..." MJ scowled and looked at Peter, who was still craning his neck. She couldn't tell if he was addressing her or talking about the (now much louder) sirens. Sadly though, she had a pretty good idea.

 _He isn't..._

"Er, look MJ..."

 _He is..._

"I gotta go. I just realised I've got a work thing to take care of. You understand right?"

"...Yeah sure...I understand." _More than you realise..._

"Great. See you tomorrow" Peter ran off to chase the sirens.

 _So long as he has 'that job' I'm always going to be low on his priorities. At least before now he used try harder to act like he was listening to me. Maybe...maybe if I get out of acting...I should get out of something else as well._

* * *

The next day rehearsals had lasted exceptionally long so that it was after dark by the time Mary Jane got to her apartment building. She entered the building, sighed as she looked at the bills in her mail box and climbed the stairs.

Today's rehearsals had been even worse than the day's before. The director was now asking MJ for the impossible and screeching at her when she inevitably failed to deliver.

When MJ reached her door she rummaged in her bag for her keys and pulled them out. In doing so she also pulled out a piece of paper advertising the casting call for the musical she'd told Peter about. MJ stared at it for awhile then scrunched it up and put her key in the door.

 _Acting. Now there was a nice dream._

She turned the key and opened the door. Seconds after she entered she was surprised to find someone waiting for her.

"Hey there."

"Petey?"

Peter was indeed sitting on MJ's sofa and had his head turned to face her in the doorway. He got up and walked towards her. He was holding a rectangular box in his hand.

"I've been waiting for awhile. Did rehearsals overrun or something?"

"I, yeah, yeah they did. Leopold and the director again."

"They sound like a bundle of laughs."

The corners of MJ's mouth twitched as a small smile flashed across her face.

"Only if you're in the audience...Sorry if this sounds rude tiger but...what are you doing here?"

"Well...after yesterday I thought maybe, if you wanted, we could get some take out and watch this."

Peter handed MJ the box. As took it and looked down to examine it, she saw it was a movie.

"'Bye Bye Birdie'..."

Peter nodded.

"You're favourite movie"

"I, yeah!"

MJ smiled nostalgically as she continued to look t the box.

"I used to watch this all the time as a kid."

The smile widened as she looked up to address Peter.

"I always wanted to be like Anne-Margaret. Heh...I guess you could say she 'inspired' me."

"I know. I remember you telling me that once in Freshman year."

MJ's expression changed to one of mild disbelief.

"You...you remember me saying that?"

Peter for his part shrugged as if this was all obvious.

"Sure...why wouldn't I?"

"Well I thou-...Never mind Petey-pie."

MJ handed him back the box and flashed him a smile.

" Just play the movie."

* * *

The next day MJ headed out to the casting call.

* * *

 _Author's Note: For those who don't know the actress Anne-Margaret rose to stardom in the early- 1960s and was (allegedly) a source of inspiration for the character of Mary Jane Watson._


	3. Chapter 3: The Radioactive Question

**_Not long ago Peter Parker told Mary Jane about the origins of his powers. That story has set MJ's mind ablaze and she has a few more pressing questions for Mr. Parker._**

 _This story is set during the Spider-Man comics published in the 1980s. It's set at some point in between Amazing Spider-Man #275 when Peter tells Mary Jane his origin story._

 _This is my attempt to put some things to rest and it's also a kind of rebuttal towards Spider-Man: Reign._

 _Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback._

* * *

Mary Jane stood outside the door to Peter's Chelsea's apartment.

She was hesitating and wondered to herself why.

She had a key after all.

She'd returned it some months ago when she came back to New York, but it hadn't been too long before Peter had given it back to her.

He'd said it was a matter of practicality and trust. Ever since she'd (not entirely comfortably) become Peter's confidant in regards to most things (including his life as a certain web-slinger) she had found herself in frequent (too frequent for her liking) situations where she needed to get into Peter's apartment. Whether this was to pass him civilian clothes, patch up his wounds or generally just check up on him, they'd both agreed it made more sense for her to have her key back.

And they had both agreed it had meant nothing more than that.

Not like the _first_ time he'd given her his key...

But at this very moment Mary Jane wondered if she should knock so as to not be rude and just barge in. She knew that was a strange thought to be having after all the times she had done just that, and Peter had been perfectly fine with it. And it wasn't as if she hadn't seen him when he looked less than flattering.

Standing there though, Mary Jane knew that her hesitation had nothing to do with any of that. She simply didn't want to go in because she was worried that Peter would be inside. And if he was inside she knew she'd have to ask him some important questions, the answers of which she was terrified of hearing.

She had a sudden urge to run. That urge was an old companion of hers, and not one she was necessarily happy to indulge. Now, as was the case many years before, she was faced with a door, with Peter Parker and with a chance to run. Despite her apprehensions (and downright terror), for his sake, she hadn't run from Peter back then. And this time, for her own sake, she did the same.

She knocked on the door.

"Just a sec" a voice called from the inside. Peter opened the door and gave MJ a friendly wave when he saw her.

"Hi MJ. What brings you to casa Del Parker?"

MJ covered up the fear she'd had on her face with lightning speed (she'd had had plenty of practice in her time). She adopted a small and entirely fake smile.

"Just...just passing through. Wanted to see how you were...So...how are you?"

"I'm okay I guess. Well...I'm okay for me. This whole Flash thing hasn't exactly been a walk in the park"

MJ remembered all too vividly when her and Peter's old friend Flash Thompson was arrested on suspicion of being the super villain the Hobgoblin. It had upset her so she knew it'd done worse for Peter who'd known Flash longer. Evidently Peter wanted to get his mind off it because he abruptly changed the subject as he beckoned her inside.

"Come in, come in. I was just doing a bit of spring cleaning. I know its summer but with me I take what I can get you know."

As MJ walked in she only now observed that that the heat and the stuffy apartment had served to make Peter quite sweaty. He drank greedily from a glass of water and placed it back on a counter. MJ stared at the glass, specifically the faint marks where his lips had touched it. Peter noticed her staring and misread her expression.

"Sorry, where are my manners? You want something to drink?" He went over to his sink and picked up a glass by holding it from it's top.

"No!" MJ exclaimed. Peter stared at her, surprised by her tone.

"Oooookay then, no drink for Ms. Watson."

MJ's composure had gone but she tried to get it back.

"Sorry sorry I...umm. I'm just not thirsty I..."

Her efforts fell apart when she eyed a tissue box on Peter's table and gulped. Peter followed her eye line and when MJ stopped staring at it to look at Peter she saw an expression of complete bewilderment on his face. When MJ spoke again Peter turned to her and wiped this expression from his face.

"I actually...wanted to talk to you about something that was..." MJ trailed off when she caught a glimpse of the door to Peter's bathroom and a quick look of fear passed over her face for a second. She tired her best to continue.

"Something...something important that had gotten me..." She trailed off again as her eye moved now to Peter's bedroom door. She felt ever so slightly sick at the sight of it. When she registered that twinge of sickness she felt immense shame and, for a moment, a seething hatred directed at herself.

 _It's Peter...It_ _ **was**_ _Peter! How can you feel like this about him? He's your best friend. He used to..._

"MJ?" Peter asked with a curious and worried tone. MJ's mind was snapped back to the present. She inhaled and exhaled deeply through her nostrils before looking Peter dead in the eyes.

"Peter...the other day when you told me about...about how you got your powers..."

"The spider bite?"

"Yeah...the spider bite...the _radioactive_ spider bite, I...I only just thought to ask...are...Are _you_ radioactive?" She didn't break her stare and her insides were doing cartwheels in expectation of his answer. The fear which had slowly but surely engulfed Mary Jane ever since Peter had told her the other day about the origin of his powers now made her wait for an answer seem like years. Nevertheless it lasted only three seconds. Peter looked surprised to even be asked the question.

"What? Oh right, yeah I suppose it is an obvious question. No. No I'm not."

MJ still had a look of concern on her face, apparently not entirely convinced.

"How...how do you know?"

"How? Because I've conducted tests of course. I conducted some rudimentary ones not long after I got my powers. I mean there was minimal risk but why take the chance right? It is radiation after all."

Peter seemingly caught onto MJ's weird actions and sought to reassure her further.

"MJ seriously it's fine. If you're worried about being irradiated by being around me there is no risk. I wouldn't risk hurting you, or anyone else, if just being around me poses a danger of poisoned. I've had Reed Richards himself give me the all clear."

"Reed Richards?" MJ looked more optimistic. For some reason mentioning the name of the smartest man on Earth was reassuring.

"Yup" Peter continued. "See when I first got my powers I obviously played around with them on and off to test my limits and even to find out how they worked. That was how I figured out I could attune my spider tracers so they'd react to my spider sense. I mean I was 15 and a science nerd. You go through some complicated changes at the best of times at that age, but when you're worried you're going to maybe turn into a giant spider or something, you want to know what you're dealing with. And in my case, I wanted to know why I couldn't shoot webs or didn't grow eight eyes or something. Plus with my natural scientific curiosity I fascinated myself."

MJ gave an amused smile, which prompted Peter to smile back and continue.

"Well you can imagine how I was also concerned about my health due to being exposed to radiation. I ran some basic tests with the minor equipment I had and even some more sophisticated ones at a later date when I was able to access more advanced stuff.

I discovered my blood contained radiation within it and wondered about the rest of me. After all blood goes everywhere in the body so it wasn't a stretch to imagine that I had radioactive skin, saliva, sweat, breath...other stuff...But from the tests I was able to conduct, when I was looking for radioactivity I found nothing.

Somehow the radiation was in my blood and ONLY in my blood. I figured it was because the spider had bitten into a vein on my hand."

MJ looked quizzically at Peter now, her fear being replaced with genuine curiosity.

"But how could the radiation just stay in your blood? And how did you know it wasn't harmful?"

Peter leaned on the back of the sofa before carrying on, clearly enjoying his little lecture.

"Well the thing of it is MJ that the radiation the spider was exposed to was a unique form of radiation. It's not the kind of radiation you hear about which gives people cancer or radiation poisoning. It had been discovered and researched since the 1940s. When they found very little military application for it they let the general public know about it. The radiation could be controlled in a variety of ways and wasn't harmful so long as you didn't get exposed to it directly, and even then it had to be in massive doses.

A company called General Techtronics even created a machine which used and controlled this kind of radiation as part of genetic engineering experiments. That was the machine I visited at the science exhibit the day I got my powers. I mean if the scientists and authorities didn't have a good idea that this type of radiation was essentially risk free, do you really think they'd have allowed them to conduct an experiment using it in the middle of New York? Especially when anyone could just go and see the experiment up close without any form of protection; no lead shielding, no sunglasses, nothing."

"I guess not. But you didn't answer my other question. How does it just stay in your blood?"

Peter's delight and being able to talk science with MJ somewhat diminished when she asked this.

"To be honest I am not entirely sure. I mean I am something of a unique case. But somehow the radioactivity stays in my blood and only transfers elsewhere if my blood itself does and even then, the radioactivity is so low and sparse that you'd need a blood bag's worth before you found even a single radioactive particle. It's just a unique feature of my blood or of what the spider did to it, or maybe of the radiation itself. Heck maybe it's some combination of all those."

"So it's completely harmless?"

Peter's expression diminished further and he became solemn for a moment.

"Well...it's essentially harmless"

MJ gave an exacerbated sigh

"Uh oh"

"See, when I was a teenager Aunt May needed a blood transfusion and I was a viable donor. She needed it to get better but I really wasn't sure what the effects my blood might have. But at the time I was young and kind of naive, so it seemed like I didn't have much of a choice. I went ahead with it.

A long time after that she got sick. Turned out she'd absorbed a radioactive particle inside of her blood."

"Just the _one!_ " MJ exclaimed.

"Yep. Like I said the radioactivity is low grade and sparse. But it was enough to endanger her life. I had to get her a pretty pricy item called ISO-36 which could cure her condition. It worked like a charm and she was fine after that. But obviously I never wanted to transfuse my blood to anyone ever again. Actually it was that incident which sort of confirmed to me the radioactivity stayed in my blood. I mean after such a long time the particle would have passed into the rest of her blood or irradiated more of her, or even made her sicker."

The fear returned to MJ's face now and she spoke slowly with a slight shake in her voice.

"So...just one particle is potentially harmful? But...I've touched your blood before."

"Sure but like I said you'd need a large amount of it to find one particle. Plus my blood at the time had had it's white blood cells removed. I am all but certain that those would have saved Aunt May from reacting badly to the radioactive particle. Heck the ISO-36 might have even given her some kind of lasting affect which protected her although it wasn't like I was about to test that theory out.

And besides all that, I think the particle only affected her due to her severe age and the fact that she was so fragile in the first place."

MJ still looked a bit frightened and clearly needed more reassuring. Peter moved towards her and took hold of her hands, bringing them up to chest height.

"Seriously MJ, to absorb any radiation into your system from my blood you'd need to have touched a large amount of it...without gloves...and when you had a large enough openings in your skin for my blood to pass into it. I mean you wash your hands after you've touched my blood right? You haven't had any big cuts in your hands when you've touched it have you?"

MJ tilted her head slightly in thought.

"Well...I don't think so. I mean most of the time, that's just common sense when you touch anyone's blood."

Peter shook her hands up and down as if to shock the truth into her.

"Exactly! The chances of you having taken any radioactivity into your system by touching my blood are astronomically low and even if you had either the white blood cells would protect you or your own system would. I mean you aren't old or weak like Aunt May, you'd be fine. And..."

Peter looked downwards now, almost like an embarrassed child. His voice lowered slightly and he spoke more softly.

"If you weren't...if the radiation was going to harm you or _was_ harming you...I'd save you."

He squeezed MJ's hands slightly when he said this.

"You would?" MJ had arched an eyebrow and had adopted a similarly softer tone. Peter looked up now and it was he who was staring MJ dead in the eye now.

"Sure. Id' get you ISO-36 or something else. I wouldn't let anything like that happen to you MJ."

It was MJ's turn to give Peter's hands a little squeeze.

"I...I know. And...I suppose...I suppose if that happened to your aunt, and what with _your_ massive guilt complex...you wouldn't let me touch your blood if there was any danger."

"Of course I wouldn't."

Peter was still staring into MJ's eyes when he said this. Suddenly a flicker of realisation passed across his face, as if he had caught himself stepping out of line somehow. He broke the stare at the same time as he let go of her hands. He went back to his glass of water and picked it up in passing before leaning on the sofa again. After taking a quick sip, he adopted a friendly yet breezy tone.

"Look...if it's really worrying you I could test your blood myself I have the, equipment for it."

MJ for her part had stayed glued to the spot, unusually unsure how to react to the last few moments. Now though she gave her head a little shake as if to snap herself back to reality.

"Er, no that's-"

"Or I could take it to Curt Connors or Reed Richards. I see them both from time to time just to check the radioactivity in me is still okay. Plus I see them regarding all the strange stuff I'm exposed to because you can never be too careful. Heck remember how I told you about the alien costume Reed Richards helped me out with not that long ago. I'm sure they'd be willing to help..."

For whatever reasons (and MJ had a good idea which reasons in particular) Peter was talking slightly faster than normal and heading into a rambling territory, cutting off MJ before she finished speaking

"Umm , I said n-"

 _"...Or_ I could get some ISO-36 in, although I can't really afford it right now but as soon as I-"

 _"Peter!_ " MJ said, rather more loudly than normal. "I said no. You're smart. And responsible and...well... you're my friend. So when you say I'm okay...I trust you."

MJ had said this after her shoulders had dropped a little and she overall looked like her old relaxed self again. This seemed to calm Peter down a bit and he gave her a small nod accompanied by an even smaller smile.

"Thanks MJ...So...do...do you wanna do something tonight?"

MJ's eyes widened slightly and she turned her head inquisitively.

"What...What do you mean?"

"Oh you know. You wanna just hang out or go out or something?"

MJ didn't move for a split second before straightening her head and doing her best to suppress a flicker of disappointment.

"I dunno, its a little late." She said casually. "Maybe we should just watch a movie here?" Her eyes darted quickly to Peter's face when she said this but his expression remained neutral. "What you got?" She asked.

Peter went over to his TV and began examining some boxes scattered around it.

"Er, let's see. I have 'When Harry Met Sally', 'Friday the 13th' and...Godzilla..."

There was a long pause after he said this followed by an even longer one when he turned around to look at MJ. They exchanged a silent look of clear understanding.

"...Maybe we should just go out for dinner?" Suggested MJ

"I like that idea."

With that they headed out the door.


	4. Chapter 4: Mary Jane's Present

**_As Spider-Man ponders what gift he should buy for Mary Jane's birthday he remembers their relationship throughout the years_**

 _This story is set roughly at some point in the mid-late 1980s Spider-Man comics, during Tom DeFalco's Amazing Spider-Man run and Peter David's Spectacular Spider-Man run. It was inspired by a line of narration in 'Spider-Man: The Venom Factor' by Diane Duane._

 _Please, please, please leave some feedback telling me if this is any good or how I can improve it._

* * *

It was November 8th and New York City was beginning to get cold. That was to be expected for a city surrounded by the ocean.

As Peter Parker transversed the city he couldn't quite remember winter being this cold back when he was growing up in Forest Hills. That was to be expected though. Back in the suburbs he was living in a well insulated house whilst now (as a young man of 24) he was living in a drafty apartment in Chelsea. Peter considered it just his luck (the Parker Luck he called it) that the apartment was paradoxically cold in winter yet smelting in the summer.

Of course the other reason Peter found winters in his adulthood generally colder than he remembered is that he spent far more time swinging around the city in rather thin spandex. Peter had tried before insulating his Spider-Man costume for winter but it never went well. Apart from looking ridiculous and overheating him at times, he found it too difficult to conceal his costume under his civilian clothes and the insulation restricted his movements too much (which in his line of work could be fatal).

Mentally grumbling about the cold, his apartment and so on, Peter swung low into the city. He found himself perched on a rooftop and stared down at the hustle and bustle of the city streets; slightly envying everyone wearing a coat. Whilst eying the street he saw a man of about his age walk out of a jewellery shop before pausing on the sidewalk and take out a gift wrapped package from his shopping bags, seemingly eying it with a pleased expression.

 _Careless._ Peter thought. _In a city with this much crime you don't want to advertise that you've got valuable. Especially right after you walk out a jewellery store. What could that package be that would make him forget common sense?_

About a minute later Peter had a pretty good idea, when a pretty brunette woman met the man on the sidewalk and exchanged a quick kiss with him.

 _Ah._ Peter thought. _Present for his girlfriend...or his wife. Or maybe his girlfriend he's hoping to make his wife._

As Peter eyed the couple walking down the street this last thought sent Peter's mind reeling back to a problem which had been weighing upon him recently. The cold and his apartment and his slight cynicism regarding strangers in jewellery shops were all really distractions from what was really gnawing at him.

On November 10th it would be the birthday of a certain Ms. Mary Jane Watson and Peter had absolutely no idea what to get for her.

Mary Jane was a pretty successful model who could afford pretty much any gift Peter himself could get her. Peter knew that MJ wouldn't be truly disappointed or expect someone with his funds to push the boat out but Peter couldn't help but feel he owed her the effort.

It hadn't been all that long since that fateful day when Mary Jane dropped the bombshell that she knew he was Spider-Man and their entire relationship had changed. It had gone through some interesting iterations up until then in the first place.

Peter recalled with fondness how for years he had avoided meeting the niece of his and Aunt May's Forest Hill's neighbour, Anna Watson. He had been so certain that the frequently mentioned 'Mary Jane' would be at best pretty boring and at worst not exactly easy on the eyes. It therefore remained one of the most impactful moments of his life when he opened Anna's front door and first laid eyes upon MJ. His jaw had dropped at the stunning sight of the redheaded and green eyed beauty. As if to make sure Peter wouldn't forget that moment, MJ then uttered words which burned themselves into Peter's memory:

"Face it Tiger. You just hit the jackpot!"

From there they're relationship had been through many twists and turns (though through them all had MJ still called him 'tiger'). Early on in college they'd casually dated for a short time before Peter turned his attention more upon a beautiful blonde named Gwen Stacy. Though they got catty and competed over Peter (even after Peter and Gwen began dating), in a very strange way Gwen and Mary Jane had been friends. In fact privately MJ had confessed that whilst she had made plenty of acquaintances from her modelling work and from her frequent ventures to the party scene, she had few people she truly regarded as close friends, and Gwen had been one of them.

However Gwen tragically died during a battle between Spider-Man and the Green Goblin, a super villain who had discovered Peter's secret identity. Peter remembered the moments of that awful night all too vividly and knew he would do so until the day he died. It was perhaps because of that he also remembered one particular moment which had gone some small way to alleviating the pain he had felt back then. He had returned to his apartment to find Mary Jane there waiting for him. To put it mildly, Peter in his grief had said some harsh words to MJ, including yelling at her that she wouldn't care if her own mother died.

He winced a little at this now because he had recently discovered that at the time MJ's mother had in fact died around a year before. He didn't know that at the time though and had proceeded to order her out of his apartment. And yet, the usually carefree and seemingly airheaded Mary Jane had paused at the door for but a moment before slamming it shut and remained with Peter to grieve with him throughout the night.

Peter was only recently realising how hard that must have been for her. Mary Jane had had a long history of running away from her problems as a way of protecting herself from pain. Even when she was in the room with you she was sort of running away or hiding. She used a facade of a carefree party girl to delude people into thinking she was nothing more than that. It was a way for her to avoid commitment since, through observing her parents' and sister's disastrous family lives, she'd grown terrified of it.

So for her to have had the chance to take the easy option and escape but choose not to, to choose to commit (however briefly) to comforting Peter when her every instinct was to run away must have taken a lot of strength on her part. It was a strength and a side of her Peter very slowly saw more of as the years had gone by.

MJ was a source of immense strength and support for him during those dark days when he was grieving Gwen. Eventually they had begun to fall in love and tentatively date. Very occasionally Peter wondered if it was only out of his grief for Gwen that he and MJ had begun a relationship. But in looking back Peter knew it wasn't really like that. Although that had been an important catalyst and had changed them both, it was not as if Mary Jane was some kind of rebound. His feelings for her had been genuine and as such when Gwen had appeared seemingly alive and well not long after his and MJ's first kiss, Peter found himself extremely conflicted. He eventually realised Mary Jane was the one who was important to him and that he'd moved on from Gwen; which was just as well since the Gwen in question had been a clone of the original (he shook his head at how casual that sounded to him).

After that they're relationship had had some bumps in the road but really only gotten turbulent when Peter had asked MJ to marry him. In hindsight it had been a bad decision at a bad moment for both of them. Apart from being too young at the time Peter was still naively clinging to the idea that he could keep his identity secret from Mary Jane. Since Mary Jane had known about his being Spider-Man at the time she knew he was literally lying to her face, and that (along with a host of other reasons) had led to her turning him down and their relationship drifting apart from thereon.

After begging her for another chance Peter's duties as Spider-Man had forced him to leave MJ waiting in the rain for him which consequently led to her dumping him. Sometimes Peter thought MJ should have been more understanding back then, given that she knew he was Spider-Man, but Peter also knew that he wouldn't have liked to have been treated how MJ had if he were in her shoes.

After that they hadn't seen too much of one another, only occasionally bumping into each other but being civil and eventually even friendly. Not long after, MJ moved out of New York and for awhile Peter hadn't heard anything from her. That was until she used the spare keys to his apartment to walk in on him when another woman was planting him with kisses (albeit against his will). They had proceeded to be a bit awkward around each other after that but gradually they warmed back up to each other, becoming friendly and (Peter now admitted) even a bit flirtatious.

But then came the day that a super villain decided to visit Peter's apartment at the same time as MJ, consequently leading him to bundle her out of harm's way whilst he dealt with the problem at hand. When he released her he had struggled to find yet another new lie to feed her before she cut him off and told him that she knew he was Spider-Man.

For a short period of time Peter had worried about MJ knowing his secret but after she had confessed her own secret about her torrid home life (which included an alcoholic father) he had stopped actively worrying about her knowing his secret and merely felt uncomfortable about it (though that passed). In confessing her own secret they'd reached a turning point in thier relationship where they were more honest with one another and had subtly come to understand one another as (sometimes not entirely willing) confidants.

Indeed Peter had discovered that it was actually rather wonderful being able to actively talk to someone about his problems in and out of costume and get advice. That, alongside MJ frequently worrying about him, covering for him and even tending his wounds from time to time, had made Peter realise she was in fact his closest friend.

It was for all these reasons that Peter felt he needed to get MJ something a bit special for her birthday, something she'd actually _like_ as opposed to something she'd be indifferent towards. He'd wracked his brains and had come up with exactly nada.

Peter's reminiscing soon faded when he eyed some unsavoury youths lurking in an alley the young couple were approaching. He hopped over several rooftops until he was overlooking the youths and saw them flick out a knife.

In only slightly less time than it took for the crook to display his blade, Peter had disarmed the youths and webbed them up against the alley wall. Whilst adhering to the wall himself his mind again drifted back to the dilemma facing him. He couldn't get her perfume or jewellery because it was too expensive and (along with clothes) she probably had more than enough. Movies and books weren't a great bet because MJ's busy schedule meant she didn't have too much down time at home.

He was pondering for so long the young couple had caught up to the alleyway and not even noticed the strange scene on the inside as they passed. The glint of the woman's earrings however caught Peter's eye breaking his thoughts and briefly he stared down at the couple again.

He observed that the young woman was wearing one of those scarves which were terribly fashionable but obviously not that great for this weather. That wouldn't really have bothered her though since she was wearing what Peter could now clearly see was a fur coat, possibly some kind of cat hair. Peter knew MJ didn't own or model any fur on principle but all the same he wished he had the kind of cash which could buy something like that. It was at that point inspiration struck Peter and he realised he need not buy MJ something necessarily expensive but something which was nonetheless meaningful.

* * *

Two nights later it was November 10th and Peter was late. He had been out late the night before dealing with certain gangland shenanigans and between that, developing and delivering his photos for the Bugle, he had decided to take an afternoon nap. He had hoped that his power nap would refresh him for the small party MJ was throwing at her apartment (though he knew she probably either had or would be doing a night on the town at some point). Unfortunately his alarm clock hadn't been very co-operative so Peter found himself showering and shaving when the party was already in full swing.

Now, as he himself swung towards MJ's apartment he naively hoped that she'd see his lateness as being 'fashionably late'. However, once he walked through the door (after changing on the roof) MJ's expression clearly conveyed that he was in fact merely late. And if looks could kill he might have been late in more than one sense of the word.

"Oh. Nice of you to join us tiger" MJ said coldly

Peter tried to look as apologetic as possible when he said "Sorry MJ. It...It really wasn't my fault"

MJ's eyes narrowed "Were you held up by _work_?"

Her emphasis on the last word (as well as the fact that many Bugle employees were at the party) made it clear she was talking about his _other_ line of work.

"No. I honestly wasn't. It was my alarm"

MJ's expression changed as she rolled her eyes "I told you to get a new one weeks ago"

Since MJ had evidently switched to a slightly less annoyed demeanour, Peter deduced his absence had given her cause to worry if something had happened to him as Spider-Man. Peter felt immeasurable guilt for a second when he realised that today of all days he'd inadvertently caused her such concern.

Trying to lighten things up he said: "It's...it's just finding the time isn't it...Which is ironic when you think about it"

He thought he saw a twitch of a smile in the corner of her mouth. Rather neutrally she said:

"Help yourself to food tiger. I've got to mingle" With that MJ walked off to cheerfully greet some of her modelling friends.

Peter stared after her feeling all in all that power nap wasn't worth the trouble. Sighing a little bit, he did as MJ suggested and helped himself to what few finger foods were left. As he ate he stared around the apartment and saw MJ had evidently gone to quite a bit of trouble.

"Heya Pete"

Peter turned to see his old friend Harry Osborn. Harry and Peter had been roommates for awhile in college and for a shorter period of time he had had a rather rocky relationship with Mary Jane which had not ended well. But that was years ago and nowadays Harry, Peter and MJ were all on very good terms. Ironically of the three of them Harry seemed to be the one who'd had the most luck with love, having married one of Peter's early high school crushes, Liz Allan. Recently they'd even had a child (Norman 'Normie' Osborn) whom Peter and MJ were the godparents of.

"Hi Harry. How's Normie"

"Beautiful as ever. But I was glad me and Liz could get a break for the night and come out here."

"Heh. You were coming from all the way out of Manhattan and you _still_ beat me here"

"Well you were never the most punctual guy Pete. Shame though, you could've made a real difference"

"How do you mean?"

"To MJ. She hasn't been her usual self tonight. You know her, any chance for a party and she's usually the life and soul. I mean she still has been tonight but not as much as she usually is. I think she was waiting for you to show up"

"Well that makes me feel a whole lot better"

"Sorry Pete, I'll shut up now. Although...why do you think she'd be down about you not being here?"

"Harry...I think you're fishing"

"Well...not me. Liz is fishing and I'm just her line. Not that I wouldn't be glad if something was happening between you two"

"Well there isn't. We're just friends."

" _Who almost got married_ " muttered Harry

" _Harry_ "

"I'm just saying Pete, it's...unusual for a man and a woman-"

"To be friends?" Cut in Peter.

"No. It's unusual for a man and a woman who dated as long as you two did, who seriously considered marriage at one point, to break up and be as chummy as you are now. I mean you two went out the other week didn't you?"

"To the movies!...And dinner"

"Where did you take her?"

"...Nowhere...she...she kind of cooked at her place"

Harry cocked an eyebrow. When it came to being socially savvy Harry had never been the sharpest tool in the shed but evidently married life to Liz (who wasn't like Harry in this regard) had given him some annoying insights.

"Maybe you should do something to get back in her good books. You know...just so you can go back to being _friendly_."

Harry walked off leaving Peter feeling rather conflicted and frustrated. Nevertheless he was right about one thing. Peter did need to do something to make up for tonight...

* * *

Three hours or so later the apartment was pretty vacant. Most people had gone home and now only a few of MJ's modelling friends were hanging around. Peter knew from experience though that when it came to outlasting people at parties no one could top MJ, so soon enough they too cleared out.

MJ waved at them from the front door before gently closing it and turning to face the rest of the apartment. Her eyes widened slightly when she saw Peter was still there. She had spent a lot of the night not talking to him much, evidently still annoyed that he'd taken so long to show up. Between that and possibly just missing him in the crowd of leaving guests, she was genuinely a little surprised to see him there.

"Still here?" she said, cocking her head slightly to one side

"Well I was the last to arrive I thought I should be the last to leave. And...I thought I'd help you clean up"

MJ didn't say anything for a second, as if she was considering this. Then she pointed to a cupboard under the kitchen sink.

"Trash bags are in there"

For the next hour or so they worked in silence, MJ's attitude thawing as they went along. But finally everything was cleared away and, standing in the centre of the apartment with their hands on their hips, Peter and MJ observed their handiwork

"Not bad. We make quite a team"

"Well they do say many hands make light work. And to think with you we could be talking up to eight"

"Don't tempt fate. What time is it?"

"4 a.m."

"Ohhhh, I better be going."

Peter grabbed his coat from the hook on the side of the door and put it on, MJ joining him to see him out.

"I...I'm sorry again MJ"

"...Wasn't your fault I suppose. Maybe I was a bit too cold towards you tonight"

"No, it's your birthday, you're entitled to feel however you like and-"

Peter stopped talking as soon as his hand brushed against a bulge in his coat pocket. Sticking his hand into the coat he produced a package.

"Oh, hey! I forgot about this"

"What is it?"

"It's your birthday present"

" _Peter_ " MJ said consolingly "You didn't have to. I know finances aren't great for you right now"

"I know but I couldn't _not_ get you something right? Anyway..." Peter handed the package over. "I hope you like it"

MJ thumbed the soft package for a moment before opening it. Upon removing the gift and unraveling it MJ stared at it for a second before cracking a big grin and hugging Peter.

"I love it! Thank you Peter"

Peter hugged back. "It's not quite the jackpot but..."

He stopped as MJ pulled away and stared directly into his face "It is to me"

It was a scarf like the one the woman from the young couple had worn. Except this scarf was adorned with a printed image.

Specifically, the image of a tiger.


	5. Chapter 5: Squeeze

**_Peter Parker has faced trial and challenges which would have broken lesser men. But now the once Amazing Spider-Man seems to be struggling with the normalcy of a cramped subway. But what is the cause of his strife and how will he get through it?_**

 _This is sort of a follow-up to a very well known Spider-Man story that ran in Web of Spider-Man #31-32, Amazing Spider-Man #293-294 and Spectacular Spider-Man #131-132. I won't say it's name because it would spoil the story but check it out since the story rocks and if you want more information about what this story ties into._

 _My intention is that this story occurs shortly after Spectacular Spider-Man #132 and before Web of Spider-Man #33._

 _I really want to hear feedback to know what sucks and what doesn't so any would be appreciated._

* * *

A suitcase jabbed at his knee.

Bad breath wafted in his direction, fouling his nostrils.

Music blared in headphones so close he might as well have been wearing them himself.

It was rush hour on the New York subway, and Peter Parker wasn't happy.

As the train rattled along Peter and the other standing passengers swayed lightly.

The motion wasn't particularly turbulent.

Nevertheless, Peter gulped slightly.

He'd faced hordes of armed gunmen. He'd evaded impalement by lunatics dressed as rhinos and scorpions. He'd even been trapped under tons of rubble deep below the Hudson River. And yet the simple discomforts of the subway after five were making him feel anxious. It was absurd. This was nothing compared to what he'd seen, what he'd done and what he'd overcome in his career as the Amazing Spider-Man.

It all seemed so stupid, particularly since he didn't know why he felt like this.

Or at least...that's what he told himself...

That's what he tried to make himself believe...

As a scientist Peter knew a thing or two about problem solving. Whilst the mysteries of the human mind weren't exactly his forte, he was competent enough to work out why he was feeling this way.

It was for the same reasons why he'd felt similarly over the past few months. Whether he was waiting in a particularly busy line, stuck in a traffic jam en route to Aunt May's or amidst the hustle and bustle of the Daily Bugle, pangs of anxiety had suddenly hit Peter out of nowhere.

* * *

The train lurked forward as it stopped at a station. Peter found the other passengers pressing in closer to him as they were thrown off balance.

* * *

Against his will Peter's mind drifted back to the root of his recent problems. A root that could be summed up in a single name.

Kraven

* * *

Peter began to lightly sweat. Between the hot weather and the mass of people it wasn't unreasonable. But he knew that it had nothing to do with either.

* * *

Sergei Kravinoff.

Kraven the Hunter.

A big game hunter who lived by the law of the jungle. Many years ago as Spider-Man, Peter had tangled with him. He'd been a dangerous and cunning opponent back then and throughout their later encounters that hadn't changed much.

What had changed though was Kraven's state of mind. Though clearly a few bananas short of a bunch, Kraven's frequent defeats and his obsession with his 'honour' had led to him going way over the edge. He'd concocted an insane plan to pay Spider-Man back once and for all.

And so, one stormy night he'd stalked Spider-Man through the New York rooftops.

He ensnared him in a net.

Took out his rifle.

And fired.

But 'killing' Spider-Man was only the start. After having slain his hated foe Kraven proceeded to conduct a funeral for him.

He'd watched as the coffin was lowered into the ground.

He'd helped shovel the dirt and mud on top of it as he'd laid Spider-Man to rest.

He'd wept over a man whose face he'd never known.

But the horrible truth was...Peter...wasn't dead...

* * *

Deep down Peter desperately hoped that some of his fellow passengers would depart the train and give him some room to breathe. His stomach churned as he realised that hardly anyone was leaving the train...and that more people were climbing aboard.

* * *

Kraven had shot Peter with some kind of drug which put him into a deep state of sleep, something akin to suspended animation...or death.

Peter had been trapped in the coffin, buried six feet underground, boxed in on all sides and had been completely isolated...For two whole weeks.

* * *

The influx of new passengers was causing people near Peter to bunch up closer. Peter had to grip his handhold tightly to avoid falling on anyone who was lucky enough to have grabbed a seat.

Barely able to move, Peter began to lightly shake.

* * *

Peter had managed to free himself from the coffin when the effects of the drug had worn off. He'd struggled to walk, partially because of the muddy rain soaked ground, and partially because the lack of movement had made his muscles numb.

Even in the darkness of night, the brightness of the striking lightning had stung his eyes as they tried to adjust.

Seeking refuge in a church Peter had discovered newspapers detailing how 'Spider-Man' had been acting far more violently over the last two weeks. It hadn't taken Peter long to deduce what had happened.

Kraven.

He'd impersonated Spider-Man and ruined his reputation, all as part of some mad desire to 'prove' himself better than Peter. To prove that he wasn't just superior because he could _kill_ Spider-Man, but because he could _be_ Spider-Man.

And his masterstroke was leaving his enemy alive so that he'd _know_ that. So that Peter would _know_ Kraven had completely bettered him.

* * *

Peter suddenly felt very thirsty. He didn't have a drink of any kind on him, and even if he did he was squeezed in so tight that he wouldn't be able to reach it anyway.

* * *

Peter had gone to Kraven's townhouse to confront him.

He told himself he was just going to bring him in. But at the back of his mind he wanted to do more than that.

He wanted to beat him within an inch of his life. He wanted to tear him limb from limb. He wanted to make him _feel_ every ounce of the pain that Peter was feeling at that moment.

But Kraven had denied him that.

* * *

The pressure seemed relentless. Peter only wanted an inch or two of space but no one was able (or cared enough) to give it to him

* * *

When he'd impersonated Spider-Man, Kraven had captured a wretched specimen called Vermin. Vermin was an innocent man who'd been transformed against his will into a rat-like monster with an unfortunate taste for human flesh. Despite his actions Vermin was ultimately someone who needed help. But he received the opposite from Kraven.

After Kraven (disguised as Spider-Man) had beaten him senseless, he'd imprisoned Vermin within an electrified cage in his townhouse and proceeded to torture him. All this had served to make Vermin more violent and more dangerous than he already was, especially in regards to Spider-Man.

* * *

Another stop.

Another lurch.

Another moment where Peter would rather have been dodging bullets.

* * *

Kraven released Vermin and thus presented Peter with a simple choice.

Take the time to attack him, or go after Vermin?

Choose what he wanted, or what he knew was right?

Revenge or responsibility?

For Peter Parker there could never truly be a choice.

* * *

When he'd first gotten on the train Peter had given up his seat to a woman with a baby carriage. He knew that she needed the seat more than he did. At that moment though a hot flare of resentment flushed through him and he wished he'd never been so 'noble'.

* * *

So he'd pursued Vermin, intent upon going back to Kraven and settling thier unfinished business afterwards.

Little did he know at the time that he'd never get the chance. He'd never get his revenge. He'd never bring Kraven to justice. He'd never truly settle things.

Because as soon as Spider-Man had departed, Kraven had returned to his study, taken his prized rifle... and blown his own brains out.

* * *

Peter felt suffocated in his tiny corner of the carriage. He gulped again and then began to involuntarily take short sharp breaths which increased in speed.

* * *

It had happened then. It hadn't lasted as long as the times afterwards but it had been no less acute.

In the dark vestiges of the sewers Vermin called home, Peter had found himself crawling on his front doing his best to follow the creature.

He was fighting fatigue. He was fighting the stench. He was fighting the desire to go back and brutalise Kraven.

But Peter was also fighting his own fear.

The sewer, in all it's darkness and filth and confinement, was all too similar to Peter's 'home' from the previous two weeks.

A part of Peter didn't want to find Vermin.

A part of him wanted to run away.

In the end though Vermin had found him, commanding his rat minions to swarm on Peter and smother him.

* * *

More people flooded onto the train. What little space Peter had had was slipping away.

* * *

He'd fended off the rats but then Vermin had struck. He dragged Spider-Man down until he was completely submerged below the depths of the filthy water.

No.

Not submerged.

Buried.

* * *

His breathing continued to quicken. He tightened his grip on the handhold.

* * *

Peter had struggled beneath the water and eventually freed himself.

He proceeded to pummel Vermin. He didn't need to be so rough, but his fear had gotten the better of him.

He was never quite sure if it was fear or some kind of intuition which had caused him to run after Vermin seemed to get a second wind. Regardless he'd managed to lead Vermin up and out of the sewers into the bright morning light above.

Vermin couldn't take that. For him the cold darkness of his underground home was his sanctuary. In his own way he had been as afraid as Peter was.

Peter had handed him over to the authorities and then left. But the events of that night would never truly leave him, no matter how much he wanted them to.

* * *

The train moved off and the lights of the platform gave way to the darkness of a tunnel.

* * *

He was there again.

In the coffin.

In the darkness.

Barely able to move.

* * *

The music blared louder.

The pain in his knee grew more acute.

The stench of bad breath intensified.

* * *

He was banging desperately on the coffin lid, feeling the pressure on top of it.

He was screaming. Was he doing that out loud or within his own mind?

He wasn't sure.

* * *

Why couldn't he just get some space?

Why did they all have to be so close to him, squeezing him in from all sides?

They could show a bit of consideration couldn't they? A bit of compassion?

No. That wasn't going to happen. Peter could just tell by looking at thier faces.

* * *

He saw their faces.

Ned Leeds.

Captain Stacy.

Gwen.

Uncle Ben.

And everyone else he'd failed.

Everyone who'd paid the ultimate price.

Everyone he was going to join forever.

* * *

His throat was burning. He was so thirsty.

* * *

He wanted to leave. He didn't want to be down in the darkness among the dead men.

* * *

His stomach churned.

* * *

He was so scared.

He was so alone.

He was so tired

* * *

Why couldn't he just sit down for a minute?

* * *

How was he going to find the strength to escape?

* * *

His breaths grew shorter and faster. Like rapid fire.

* * *

The faces were so inviting.

* * *

His heart was beating faster. The pound of jungle drums.

* * *

It was so dark.

* * *

He closed his eyes and gritted his teeth.

* * *

So dark.

* * *

The music was so loud

* * *

So cold

* * *

He was drenched in sweat

* * *

So alone

* * *

Too many people

* * *

So many faces.

* * *

He couldn't move

* * *

So many people he'd let die.

* * *

No seats. No chance to rest.

* * *

He was so tired.

* * *

He had no strength.

* * *

He was trapped.

* * *

He was never going to escape.

* * *

He wasn't going to get any help.

* * *

He was-

* * *

He felt something on his hand.

A tight squeeze.

He looked at it and saw a smaller hand gripping his.

He turned to meet the green eyes of its owner.

"We're almost there tiger." Said Mary Jane.

She gave him a small smile.

Peter's breathing slowed.

His stomach settled.

He stopped sweating.

Suddenly he didn't feel all that tired.

Suddenly he didn't feel all that alone.

Suddenly he remembered what had driven him up and out of the darkness on that terrible night.

Or rather _who_.

He squeezed her hand right back.


	6. Chapter 6: Family Planning

**_After a pregnant Mary Jane endures a serious health scare, Peter Parker seeks out Seward Trainer for some answers. This is a Clone Saga related story._**

 _This story is set during the Spider-Man comics published during the mid 1990s, specifically the Clone Saga. This story occurs sometime after Spectacular Spider-Man #229 and before Spider-Man: The Final Adventure #1. This is sort of my attempt to explain some things that happened in Spec #229 as well as the MC2 universe if you want to look at it that way._

 _Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback._

* * *

Peter strolled into the lab of Seward Trainer. He wasn't exactly in a good mood; but he was in a determined one. You didn't mess around when it came to things like this.

Recently Peter had been overjoyed to learn that his wife Mary Jane was pregnant. However his life had been turned upside down upon his learning that he was a clone of the original Peter Parker, created by the madman known as the Jackal a.k.a. Miles Warren, his old college professor. Peter had come close to the edge when he heard that and had even gone over it to some extent. He seethed at himself over the horrible memory of when he first heard the news.

It wasn't the moment he knew for certain that he was a clone which hurt. It was the rage which had engulfed him. The months before that day had put him through a series of traumatic events any one of which alone would have broken a lesser man. His best friend Harry had died. He'd lost his parents a second time. His aunt had entered a coma and then died not long afterwards. He'd been accused of murder, and a host of other traumas large and small seriously affected him as well. As such hearing he was a clone had been the straw which broke the camel's back and Peter had just snapped.

He viciously attacked his clone Ben Reilly.

 _No_. He thought. _I'm the clone. Ben is the original Peter Parker. I have to get used to that fact_.

In the attack he'd been so consumed by his rage that it blinded him to his surrounding, he had become utterly unaware of everything surrounding him save for Ben. It was during that rage, and during his blanking out of his surroundings that it had happened.

Mary Jane had instinctively tried to stop Peter and had placed her hand on his arm for just a second. He was told later she'd been screaming at him to stop but, again, his rage had served to deafen him to his surroundings.

His spider enhanced reflexes and strength conspired with his rage to make him simply react without thinking with astonishing speed and he'd flung his arm out, knocking Mary Jane into a wall without realising what he'd done or even that it had been her who was behind him.

Peter intellectually knew that he genuinely hadn't realised she was there...but that didn't stop him from feeling guilty. Of hating himself for that moment more than he had hated any of the villains who'd tried to hurt him or his loved ones over the years.

That had been bad enough but not long afterwards Mary Jane had fainted and been rushed to hospital. The doctors had said her condition was critical (although he also found out she had been standing up and walking around afterwards which made him question their judgment) and it was all because of traces of radioactivity in her bloodstream. Those were having an adverse affect alongside the normal hormonal changes in her pregnancy and so both her life and the baby's had become endangered.

Ben's friend Seward Trainer, a geneticist and confidant to the Parkers, had been examining Mary Jane beforehand and had detected genetic anomalies. He'd given the baby the all clear but when MJ fell ill he showed up on Ben's request with a good idea of what had happened. He had explained that MJ's condition was even worse than he had anticipated and had explained it had been one of several possibilities. As such he had prepared an antidote and not told the Parkers since alarming them would have served no purpose.

After a crisis involving Trainer's super villain daughter (Lady Octopus) had served to prevent the antidote from getting to the hospital, Peter and Ben suited up as Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider and eventually retrieved it. In the process Peter had decided to give up life as Spider-Man and handed the mantle over to Ben. MJ was doing fine but now Peter wanted some answers and only Trainer could give them to him.

"Hey Pete." Said Ben.

 _Oh...I didn't know he'd be here_ thought Peter. He didn't know why he'd imagine he'd find Trainer alone. Ben was something like a son to Trainer so it was only natural that in seeking out one you might encounter the other.

"Hi Ben. What's up?"

Ben was carrying a large box and put it down.

"Nothing much. Just helping Trainer shift some of this equipment"

"I'd do it myself but I can't lift 10 tons over my head." Peter turned to the right where Trainer was emerging out of a room. "Hello there Peter. What brings you here? Is everything alright with Mary Jane?"

"She's fine Seward. The baby's fine as well but...it's about what happened at the hospital recently"

"Oh yes?" Trainer raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"You see I...I..." Peter decided to leave manners to one side and simply be direct. "Trainer...I want to know _exactly_ how those radioactive traces got into my wife's blood."

Seward inhaled and then exhaled slowly through his nostrils. "I think Peter...what you're really asking is...did they came from you?"

As Ben looked from Trainer to Peter and back again, Peter stared Trainer dead in the eyes then exhaled himself.

"...Yes. MJ and me are usually careful whenever she touches my blood. We know it's radioactive but it can't hurt you unless it gets into your system and I've never given her a blood transfusion or anything like that. Heck whenever she touches my blood she either wears gloves or makes sure she hasn't got any openings in her skin so no blood could get in. Not that if it did it's likely to transfer any radioactivity. The radiation is so sparse that you're need a whole transfusion's worth to transfer even a particle to someone and-"

"...And even if a particle got in, her body would deal with it or the white blood cells from your blood would address the problem." Cut in Trainer. "Yes I know all that Peter, we have discussed this. I know that just like I know how, from time to time, you check out the radioactivity in your blood to ensure there aren't any worrying changes-"

"...And check out MJ from time to time too, just to make sure there is no radioactivity her either." This time Peter cut in. "If I had even seen a tiny amount of radioactivity I would've taken steps to make sure there wasn't even the possibility of her getting harmed. I'd have gotten ISO-36 or taken her to see Reed Richards or someone else, even if it'd expose my identity. I mean she gets screened for cancer every now and then anyway, just to be sure; she did used to smoke after all."

Peter turned his whole body to directly face Trainer now and he slightly clenched his fists too. "So you tell me Trainer...how did the radioactivity get in there? Did...did you know about it?"

Trainer's expression didn't waver but he did decide to walk around the room a little bit whilst he began to talk. "Not as such. I'd examined Ben enough times to know about his radioactive blood and your wife was lightly insisting I run radiation checks. I would have done so any way, or at least I would've checked her blood in the first place. Blood tests are relatively standard procedure for most pregnant women. Not only does it give you an idea of the mother's health but it allows you to prepare for any possible problems like if the mother or the child is rhesus negative."

"Yeah yeah I know all about that" Peter said impatiently.

"Er...I don't." Said Ben, sounding stupider than he actually was.

"You don't?" Peter was surprised. Ben was a scientist like him, how could he not know about rhesus negative?

"Well I'm not the expectant father; I haven't read up on this stuff. What the heck is rhesus negative?

Peter mentally checked himself. Ben and he might share the same memories but Peter had been given the luxury of completing his education and as someone hoping for kids (which Ben hadn't considered when he believed Peter had been the original) he'd obviously read up on this stuff.

Trainer stopped his little walk and turned to address Ben. "Rhesus negative is a particular quality in the blood of a minority of people. Often if mothers possess this quality and are exposed to rhesus positive blood their bodies' create antibodies which fight against the rhesus positive blood. The danger being that in rare instances where a baby's and it's mother's blood mixes the mother's own body will fight against the baby. It's normally not a problem and only a danger if there is a second pregnancy where the baby's blood is again rhesus positive. There is a simple treatment to deal with it which neutralises that element in the baby's blood. Without that treatment the mother's body can attack the baby as a pathogen and thereby endanger it's life and potentially the mother's as well. It's all because in an odd way a baby is a kind of parasite as far as the mother's body is concerned. But certain hormones dictate that the mother's body _doesn't_ harm the baby."

Peter's impatience was rearing it's head again now. "Thanks for that lecture. But can we get back on topic please?"

"Oh sorry." Said Trainer looking slightly embarrassed. "Well I checked out Mary Jane's blood and found no radioactive traces within it. Even if I had, don't you think I would have told you, or her, or even Ben here about it to keep you vigilante should anything happen? Don't you think I would have gotten some of that ISO-36 to neutralise the radiation or given her the antidote as soon as I developed it?"

There was a twinge of hurt in Trainer's voice. Maybe it was the idea of his professionalism being questioned? But Peter suspected it was more a bit more personal than that. Nevertheless Peter pressed on.

"But at the hospital you said you knew MJ's life was going to be endangered."

"No, I said it was a possibility. I was referring to the minute possibility that the baby would have radioactive blood like you and that the blood might intermingle with the Mary Jane's. Usually that can't happen except in exceptional circumstances. However Mary Jane has not necessarily been...handled, as gently as she perhaps ought to have been so there was a possible risk of her's and the baby's blood intermingling."

That now all too familiar self-hatred seethed within Peter for a second.

"On top of that those genetic anomalies I detected initially in the pregnancy might have altered the nature of the pregnancy from a normal human one so that it may well be possible for the mother and baby's blood to intermingle. Remember Peter when it comes to this sort of thing we are in uncharted territory. Apart from you and Ben here no one else possesses your unique abilities and no one else has attempted to pass them on to the next generation. Your child and Mary Jane's _are_ the precedent. The trend setters if you will."

Curiously Peter didn't feel like much of a pioneer.

"I still don't understand why you didn't warn us about this?"

"As I said at the hospital it would have served no purpose. You and Mary Jane were going through a hard enough time as it was. I didn't want to make you needlessly worry about something which was a remote possibility and only one of several _other_ possibilities. I prepared the antidote secretly and vowed to only use it if necessary."

"You should have told us!"

Peter didn't mean to raise his voice like that and Ben inched a little bit towards Trainer. Trainer though was stone faced.

"Perhaps." He said deadpan. "But imagine it like it was rain"

"What?" Peter and Ben said in confused unison.

"Imagine it was like rain. Imagine that there are two people you want the best for, two people who've had a very hard time of it lately and have been living in apprehension about bad weather."

"A-are you being serious?" Peter asked. He was somewhere between confused, incredulous and annoyed. Trainer shrugged

"Sorry, this is the best analogy I can come up with."

Peter turned to Ben who shrugged himself.

"Just hear him out Pete." With an eyebrow raised Peter turned back to Trainer and gave a small nod, indicating that he should continue.

"Ahem. Where was I? Ah yes. So these two people have been living in fear over possible bad weather but they are pleased to learn that the forecasts expect clear skies and sunshine for the foreseeable future. And after even more hard times those two people want nothing more than to simply go out and enjoy the sunshine. But the man who told them about the good weather is all too aware that there is a highly remote possibility that the weather might turn. Would you then insist to them to take an umbrella? Or would you not simply naturally keep one on standby, ready to give it to those people when and if the weather turns? It wasn't like I sent you and Mary Jane out blindly when the sky was dark with rainclouds Peter."

Peter looked sceptical, but decided to move on to another question worrying him.

"If the radiation in essentially harmless in small enough doses, why did it harm Mary Jane?"

Trainer answered almost methodically.

"To correct you for a moment Peter, it wasn't the radioactive traces themselves which were harming Mary Jane. She was harmed by her normal hormonal changes reacting adversely due to their presence. Mary Jane had heightened hormonal activity in her body due to her pregnancy. The radiation in her blood stream was not harmful in and of itself and her body easily produced antibodies to it which kept her safe. However her body identified the source of the radiation as the foetus and so the hormones kicked her immune system into overdrive and tried to harm the baby which had a knock on affect upon Mary Jane endangering both of their lives.

My antidote utilised aspects of ISO-36 to neutralise the radioactive traces in Mary Jane's bloodstream and also within the baby itself. It also introduced another chemical which stopped her immune system from attacking the baby and it 'turned off' the chromosome inside the baby which generated the radiation in it's blood in the first place."

"How could it generate radiation though? I'm no expert but I know enough about biology to know that we get most of the things our body needs from what we eat. That's how we have iron in our bodies; we compose it from the various foods we eat. It's not like we directly eat the metal itself. So how could Mary Jane or the baby generate radiation if they aren't eating uranium or something?"

Trainer paused for a while and rubbed his beard whilst looking downwards in thought.

"That I am not sure about to be honest. But we already know the radiation in your and Ben's blood is not like more common forms of radiation. Perhaps it self-generates or uses other chemical compounds to generate itself. After all you and Ben both possess radioactive blood so there is a case for it being generated organically since you were grown from Ben's DNA Peter. And I doubt Warren would've introduced radiation himself into his clones.

In any case, there shouldn't be any more radiation coming from the foetus and we'll be vigilante from now on to ensure it doesn't happen again. I'll even tell you how to create the antidote yourself if you want Peter or simply make more for you."

"Um...yeah...thanks Seward." Peter lowered his head. He had all his answers now. His wife and child were healthy, and what passed for his faith in Seward had been restored. And yet there was something deeper which still troubled him. Ben couldn't figure it out, but Trainer saw it in Peter. It was a concern he could recognise as an older man who had been young and full of hopes for the future once. He moved forward and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder and spoke firmly but with a consoling element to his voice.

"Peter please listen to me. What happened to Mary Jane was not your fault. Every pregnancy carries risks. But the rewards if all goes well are...well they are worth it."

He lowered his eyes for a moment.

"I was simply too damn stupid to see that when I was your age."

Peter looked up and his and Ben's eyes met for a moment. They both knew Trainer was referring to his own daughter and the miserable job he did as a father to her. Trainer's eye raised and he straightened up his posture slightly, as if this would give his words more authority.

"So don't you worry too much about letting MJ touch your blood, and don't feel like this means you shouldn't have another baby if you want to. There are many possibilities for conceiving a child with your unique genetics. Some are dangerous some are not. Even this scenario was highly unlikely. I wasn't expecting with any certainty the baby would generate radiation due to having your genetic coding. It may well be a recessive gene the next baby won't inherit at all. Just be careful and do your best. And if this happens again, well you have the antidote now don't you?"

Peter gently nodded his head

"Thanks Trai- Seward"

"Parenthood, like life, doesn't come with a rule book Peter. There are always risks no matter what and all any of us can do is our best and take it one day at a time."

"One day at a time...but that doesn't mean I can't prepare for the future..."

"Excuse me?"

An odd distant look had crossed over Peter's face as if a light bulb in his head hadn't so much just turned on, but was slowly but surely getting brighter and brighter as an idea formed.

"Seward, you've got connections in the scientific world right?"

"That I do. Yes."

"Do you know of a company called General Techtronics?"

Ben's eyes widened and his head tilted to the side as he locked eyes with Peter and gave him a quizzical stare. Seward however simply rubbed his bearded chin again and looked upwards in thought.

"Hmmm...yes...yes I do. I'm afraid they aren't around anymore though."

"Oh..." Peter did his best to cover up his disappointment. Trainer's expression though didn't change at all.

"Yes, there was a merger and they are called Garrid now. Why do you ask?"

Peter's eyes lit back up.

"Garrid. Alright." He said more to himself than Seward or Ben. "Seward do you think you could maybe get my foot in the door there?"

Trainer looked surprised. "At Garrid? Probably, but you'd still need to lobby hard for a position. Competition is tough even for someone as skilled as you or Ben."

"I'll find a way" Peter began to head out the door. "Thanks again Seward. See ya Ben"

"Peter wait!" called out Ben. Peter paused halfway out the door.

"General Techtronics...Garrid...They were the company that-"

"That developed the machine which irradiated our old friend the spider." Intercut Peter.

"Why do you want a job with those guys?"

"That baby is of my irradiated blood Ben. It has my mutated genetics. It may well inherit our abilities. Heck since it's a second generation it might not be exactly like you or me. For all we know it might sprout hairy legs on it's thirteenth birthday. I've got to find out more about the process which turned me, er...you, into Spider-Man. If I can do that I can find out more about yo- I mean me and therefore do my best to prepare for anything your little niece or nephew might face."

"That...That's actually really smart Peter"

Peter smiled properly for the first time since he'd entered the lab.

"Well you don't have to sound so surprised. I mean if you think I'm a dummy what does that make you?"

"Point taken. But seriously Peter that's..." Ben's face displayed a look of pride and admiration. "...Well that's really responsible."

"Well Benjy boy what can I say. After all, that baby...is my _greatest_ responsibility."

Peter left the lab.


	7. Chapter 7: Happy Birthday Miss Hardy

**_It's Black Cat's birthday and she's having the time of her life, side by side with her husband, the Amazing Spider-Man._**

 _This story sort of takes place at some point in between Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man #11 and Marvel Divas #1._

 _Please leave feedback!_

* * *

Peter leaned over in the bed, brushing her hair aside and planting a light kiss on her cheek. She turned around to meet his gaze, though the room was illuminated only from the dim night lights emanating from the window.

"Morning. How're you doing birthday girl?"

"Perfect." Purred Felicia Hardy.

Peter's luxurious diamond ring sparkled on Felicia's left hand as she pulled him in for another kiss. "I've been waiting for you to wake up for hours." She said Felicia after the broke apart.

"Then why did you seem fast asleep?"

"So you could wake me up Spider. Although I wouldn't exactly call 17.30 'morning'."

"Well, we are nocturnal creatures Cat. Our day's only just getting started."

Peter gave a wry smile that Felicia returned with a tiny laugh.

"Heh, seems like after all this time I've finally started to rub off on you."

At this Peter arched an eyebrow. "Mind saying that last part again?"

Felicia gave another little laugh as she leaned up in the bed and began looking around the room. She spotted her (very hastily) discarded black and white costume on the floor. She got up to retrieve it, turning to see Peter staring hungrily at her. "Where's your mask lover?" She asked.

"Oh. I took it off in the night, was getting all sweaty and uncomfortable with it on."

At this Felicia smiled wryly herself, her cheeks catching the corners of her own mask. "You didn't seem to mind that earlier when we... _appropriated_ this room."

Peter leaned back in the bed, his arms folded behind his pillow. "Well, I wasn't uncomfortable at the very least...I could keep it on for the rest of the day if you want."

Felicia gave a dismissive little shake of her head. "Spider...don't be stupid. Those days are long behind us. Although, you wearing it does spice up these secret little catnaps of ours."

She scanned the room briefly and saw Peter's mask lying beside a goldfish bowl on a shelf. "Weird decor." She said before tossing it onto the bed. This prompted Peter to begin gathering up the rest of his costume. Once they were both dressed they headed towards the window, preparing to swing off.

"Should we leave a tip?" Asked Peter.

"Well, we could always tell people that we highly endorse the rooms at the Ritz. Plenty of people would give them business once they knew Spidey and Black Cat have been 'busy' here."

Peter cocked his head in thought. "Nah. If we advertise something like that it'll be harder to swing by here again. Besides, we're coming back later for your party."

"Nice thinking." Said Felicia, leaning half outside the open window. "I knew there was a reason I married you. Well, that and... _this!_ " She leapt out of the window into freefall, shooting off a cable line three storeys down and laughing in delight the whole way.

Peter wasn't far behind, following her through each leap, fall, somersault and swing. Together they were two black and white clad figures dancing through the night sky.

For hours they continued their waltz through the rooftops, stopping every so often to break up the occasional mugging, bank robbery or other crimes they encountered. The poor schmucks didn't know what hit them. They were in perfect harmony to the point where no one and nothing could bring them down or get in their way.

They even encountered the ruthless mutant Sabretooth outside the Foreign Exchange, only for him to surrender quietly when he saw who he was up against. Nevertheless they decided to knock him around for awhile for good measure. They finally left him wrapped up and humiliated outside a pet store window, surrounded by pens of kittens and bowls of exotic fish.

Venom however was someone they decided to 'play' with for awhile. Once upon a time Peter might've stopped himself or Felicia from doing something like that, perhaps even calling it cruel and inhumane. But between his terrorizing Peter and brutalizing Felicia, among other things, Felicia had long ago gotten Spidey round to her way of thinking, making Venom an exception to any 'moral codes' they held.

They didn't bother calling the police in to deal with what was left of him once they were done. They didn't even talk much about it, instead continuing to race one another across the skyline. "Hey Spider, what's the matter? Can't you keep up with me?" Called Felicia over her shoulder as she propelled herself forward on a cable.

"Oh, you _know_ I can...I just happen to like the view from back here."

A moment later Felicia landed on a rooftop and turned around just as Peter landed in front of her. "The view from the front is pretty great too you know." She lifted his mask up over his mouth and pressed her body close to his as they kissed.

"Well...what do you wanna do now?" Asked Peter a minute or two later.

"Oh, I dunno. We could rip off Fisk again. Swiping his wife's jewels is always good for a laugh...Orrr..."

"Orrrr...? You want to steal those cat's eye emeralds from the Egyptian exhibit right?"

Felicia's smiled in surprise. "How did you know? I haven't said a word!"

"Cat, c'mon after all these years we've been together of course I can tell what you're thinking."

"Yeah, well...what am I thinking now?" Said Felicia in a breathy voice.

Peter paused for a moment then took off his mask and stared deeply into Felicia's eyes.

"You're thinking the same thing I am. 'I love you. I love you more than anyone and anything else in the world. And nothing I could ever give you could express what you mean to me.'...Although from me to you, maybe this will come a little close." Peter reached into his belt and pulled out a small bag tipping the contents into Felicia's hand. "Happy Birthday."

The bright green of the emeralds were matched only by Felicia's eyes, now wide in surprise and delight as she gazed upon the jewels. " _Oh Spider!_ I had no idea. When did you-"

"Last night. Planted some fakes in their place courtesy of the Tinkerer. The saps don't even know they're gone yet. And since it was me that took them they're not gonna be able to figure out who was behind it for a good long while. After all..." He wrapped his arms around Felicia's waist. "I had a very good teacher."

* * *

Sometime later, after they'd returned home to their luxury apartment in the Bedford Towers, Peter and Felicia caught a cab and headed back to the Ritz.

"Have I told you how much I'm loving your audacity Mr. Hardy." Whispered Felicia in the back of the cab.

"You mean us 'returning to the scene of the crime'? I didn't plan it that way you know. I just knew the hotel was nice so when the mood struck, it just seemed obvious is all...but we can pretend it's audacious anyway if you want."

"The Ritz chaps." interrupted the cab driver.

"How much do you want?" asked Felicia.

"I ain't like them other foreign cabbies love. For a bird like yerself, it's on me dear."

"Er...thanks." Felicia got out the cab with a slightly curious expression on her face. "Was it just me or did that English guy decide to change his accent?"

"Forget about the limey babe. We're missing the fun."

Felicia continued to stare after the cab as it drove off, but a moment later shrugged it off. As she turned around she bumped into a one legged man on crutches hobbling along the sidewalk. "Oh, I'm so sorry sir!" The man met Felicia's eye for a moment before turning his head down and continuing on his way.

"I'm usually more graceful than that. Hope I'm not getting old."

"Course not. It was just bad luck hon."

Felicia rolled her eyes. "Given who you're talking to, that'd make a twisted kind of sense I suppose."

"No. This is what makes sense." Peter moved forward and pulled Felicia in close once more.

"Hey, steady on Spi-Peter. No need to get-" She was cut off as Peter kissed her. Several seconds later they came up for air, Felicia shaking her head.

"What were we saying just now?"

"Nothing babe. C'mon everyone is waiting."

Arm in arm they entered the hotel, making their way to the venue where Peter had made reservations. It was in a room far away from the lobby, with hardly any guests or staff passing through. Walking down the hallway to the venue doors, the couple encountered an abrupt change in decoration. It was mostly aquarium themed as there were rows of goldfish bowls on the shelves leading to the door and bright green walls behind them. Coupled with the meagre light and the odd purple smoke around their feet as they reached the doors the effect was rather eerie.

"I've never seen anything like this in the Ritz." Said Felicia. "They must be trying something experi-"

" _HAPPY BIRTHDAY FELICIA!_ "

The dark room they'd walked into burst into light as dozens of party guests let off streamers and began a round of cheers and applause. Felicia grinned wide at the sight of all her guests. Removing some streamers from her hair she took an overly dramatic bow to her adoring public and alongside Peter began moving around the room, meeting and greeting her guests.

"Tamara you made it!"

Felicia embraced a woman with a short cut bob of brown hair.

"I wasn't about to miss by best friend's big day. Not even if showing up like this gets me caught by the cops."

"If Felicia doesn't let us get a look in, maybe _we'll_ be the ones doing the catching." Felicia turned to see Misty Knight, Colleen Wing and her other fellow friends from her 'Heroes for Hire' days.

"Guys it's so good to see you. It's been too long." Felicia moved forward to exchange hugs and kisses with her teammates.

"We could say the same thing." Felicia turned again this time facing Patsy Walker, Monica Rambeu and a happy, healthy Angelica Jones.

"Whoa! I never even expected you three to be here. Angelica how are-"

"Great Felicia. More than great! I'm as good as can be."

After exchanging further pleasantries, Felicia (accompanied by Peter) made similar greetings to more guests before spotting Flash at a table. Felicia slinked over and sat opposite him.

"Hey 'Licia." He said with a smile on his face, though there was a twinge of sadness there.

"Hiya Flash. Why so glum? It's a party you know."

"It...It's just...I look at you and Park-"

" _Mr._ _Hardy._ " Felicia interjected.

"Right. Sorry. You and...Pete. And...I'm happy for you both. I really, really am but...I keep thinking...It could've been me standing by you right now...I guess that makes me sound kinda bitter."

Felicia gave a dismissive shrug. "Maybe a little. But it's okay Flash. For the longest time I felt the way you did. And for what it's worth, it doesn't take away from what we had. And...it doesn't have to mean whenever the mood takes us we can't...have a little fun?"

"I still can't believe Peter is okay with our...arrangement."

"Peter understands. He knows sometimes a cat has to go off and prowl away from home for awhile. But she always comes back in the end."

"I don't suppose you'd like to _prowl_ by _me_ anytime soon would you?" Felicia looked up and saw the proud features of Thomas Fireheart, a.k.a. the Puma.

"Sorry, but right now I think me and Spider are gonna be pretty occupied with one another. Besides, I _prowled_ your way just last week."

"Has it really been that long?" Said Fireheart, arching an eyebrow.

Felicia shook her head and smiled as she got up. "You need to cool it Tom cat. Why don't you eye up these little fishies like a good kitty while I go mingle." She gestured at the fishbowls and left Fireheart and Flash staring after her longingly.

After several more minutes of mingling, Felicia made her way back to Peter. "I think that's just about everyone right? I mean excepting-"

"Me perhaps?"

Peter and Felicia's eyes widened as they looked upon...Mary Jane Watson.

"Hi Felicia. Hey tig-...Peter."

Felicia stole a quick glance at Peter and found him perfectly relaxed.

"Hi MJ. Actually we were talking about some other guests. In fact I don't recall you being on the invite list."

Mary Jane shrugged with imperfect casualness. "You know me. I can't resist a party. I'm friendly with the staff at the Ritz and some of them let slip a thing or two...Um...I got you a card."

She handed over a black envelop with Felicia's name on it. Felicia opened it up and found a normal birthday card with a perfectly friendly (albeit generic) message about birthday wishes written above MJ's name.

"Thank you." She said neutrally.

There was an awkward silence before MJ finally spoke again.

"Look...I'm not quite sure why I came here. Maybe it was...I dunno...jealousy. Maybe I had some vague idea about spoiling this for you, or trying to come between you both. But, when I saw you together a few minutes ago...Well...whatever I was going to do I'm not going to do it now."

Felicia gave MJ an inquisitive look, though trying to look unphased. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying...I know I can't come between you two. What you have it's...it's what me and Peter used to have. Or..." She glanced sadly at Peter. "...what _I_ thought we had. I wasn't right for him, never was. _You_ were and I don't want to come between that again. I care about Peter too much to do that and Hell...however..." MJ closed her eyes and seemed to brace herself. "However _envious_ I might be of you Felicia for, God...so many things, I think deep down I care about you as well. So what I am saying is I'm sorry I kept you two apart for so long. You've got nothing to worry about from me and...I hope you both will be very happy."

Felicia looked at Mary Jane straight in the eye and a mutual acceptance passed between them. A long overdue ceasefire seemed at last to have been settled. Mary Jane gave a curt little nod to them both and began to walk away. "You could stay if you wanted MJ."

MJ turned around to face the couple once again. "Thank you but...I think it'll be best for everyone if I just get out of your way. I've been debating leaving New York for good and now I really don't have any reason to stay. Modelling and acting just haven't panned out for me so I'm just gonna start over fresh."

"That...That's probably for the best. Good luck Mary Jane, I really mean that."

"Thanks Felicia. And...happy birthday again." Mary Jane turned around once more and walked out the door and out of sight.

"Didn't you want to say any last goodbyes to her Spider? You _were_ married to her after all."

Peter gave a small smile and shook his head. "There was nothing to be said Felicia. Whatever we had is long over and it's with perspective I can finally see it was never that great to begin with. I don't love her and really...I don't think I ever did. Our whole relationship was just me rebounding from...well...from losing you. She was nice I guess, but...just not right for me. She wasn't...exciting enough. You know, like you've always said...Mary Plain right?"

Felicia chuckled. "Heh, yeah, I have always liked that nickname. I feel a little bad about it now that we've 'made our peace' though."

"Don't sweat it Cat. It's _because_ you're bad that _we're_ so good." Peter gave Felicia a quick kiss before continuing. "Without you I could never really be...me. The person I was always supposed to be. All that guilt, all that responsibility. It was destroying me until you came along and set me free. MJ...she just made dealing with that stuff easier. But at the end of the day she was just a reminder of all that crap. Kind of like...what was her name? The blonde 'girl next door' type I saw for awhile."

"Ginny Stonely or something right?"

"Yeah, whatever. MJ, was kind of like her. But that's never been what I've needed. All I've really needed...was you. Because Cat...you complete me..."

Felicia knew she had heard the words a thousand times before. Yet somehow this time it was like it was the first time. The first time she'd heard what she'd really always wanted to hear from the love of her life. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply for several minutes.

"I love you. You know that Spider? I really, really love you."

He smirked. "Well, I _did_ have a hunch about that a little while back. But hey, we can't just stand around like this all night. It's a party remember. We're gonna have plenty of time to be together later, and tomorrow and the day after that and...well for as long as they've been together probably."

A look of light confusion crossed Felicia's face "Who are you talking about Spider?"

"Why them of course." Felicia looked to where Peter was gesturing and saw an older man and woman standing at the entrance to the venue. The woman walked up and hugged Felicia warmly.

"Happy birthday sweetheart. I'm sorry we weren't here from the start but the commute took longer than Walter thought it would."

"That's okay Mom. No point crying over spilt milk right?" Lydia Hardy laughed.

"Ah well, I've never liked being late kitten. Especially not for you."

"Hey that doesn't matter. You're here now Daddy." Felicia released her mother to embrace Walter Hardy tightly and didn't let go for rather longer than was necessary. By the time she had Lydia had disappeared.

"Hey, what's this now? I thought you'd be _glad_ to see me?"

"I-I am."

"Then why are you crying kitten?"

Felicia raised a hand to her face and indeed felt tears there. She wiped them away hastily.

"I...I don't know. I'm happy I guess. I'm...I'm happier than I've ever...than..." Distantly, a horrible thought crossed Felicia's mind and she took a step back. She banished it from her thoughts with a quick shake of her head and tried to compose herself.

"Keep that up and you'll have enough tears to fill all these fishbowls." Chuckled Walter.

"Wh...what?"

"The fishbowls kitten. The place is filled with fishbowls. Funny really, don't see too many of those now do you.-"

"No...you...you don't...I guess...Why...I'm sorry why are we talking about dumb fishbowls? C'mon we've got to get on with the party. Oh, but first come and say hello to Peter Dad. You haven't seen him in so lo-"

Walter didn't seem to have heard her.

"I have to say, the decoration at this place is rather odd isn't it. All these fishbowls and such.-"

"Hey Dad, remember what you said when you met Peter for the first time? You said you couldn't think of anyone better to marry your little kitten? And-"

"And then there is all this purple smoke. It's all mystery to me why anyone thought to put that together with the fishbowls. Not to mention these green walls. Looks garish don't you think kitten...?"

"And you cried at the wedding. Mom had to hold your hand the whole way through. She liked Peter too. She said if only she was 20 years youn-"

"Although they probably have some European decorator who thinks this is looks _artistic_ or some such. _Foreigners_ can be like that you know. They'd probably think it the height of fashion to take one of those bowls and wear it on top of-"

"Dad! Would you _please_ stop talking about the stupid decor!"

Walter Hardy stared intensely into his daughter's burning green eyes.

"No kitten. I'm afraid I can't...And you know why. Don't you."

Felicia felt a tightness in her chest.

"I'm going to go find Peter." She said coldly, turning away from her father.

As she stormed off her father called out to her. "Don't you think this is all a bit odd kitten?"

" _No!_ " She yelled back.

"Really? Nothing at all out of place? Nothing mysterious going on at all?"

"I said _NO!_ Everything is the way it should be."

Out of nowhere Lydia grabbed Felicia's arm, stopping her in her tracks. "Is it dear?" She asked.

" _Yes!_ Of course it is!" Felicia wrenched her arm out of her mother's grip. "Look. Everyone is here and everyone is happy."

"Flash doesn't look too happy dear." Said Lydia quietly.

"Of course he doesn't! He's broken hearted that he didn't marry me when I asked. But it's okay, we still see each other sometimes."

"But would Flash really want to see you again like that Felicia?"

"Obviously! He had the best thing in the world when he was with me and he threw it away. He's probably been sore about it ever since, poor sap."

" _'Probably'_? You don't sound so sure, like you haven't spoken to him much recently."

"I'm not discussing me and Flash with you mother!" Felicia turned away from Lydia and resumed her search for Peter.

She continued to move amongst the crowd of party guests, looking back only quickly to see her mother following behind and her father moving oddly slowly in her direction.

"Well then, Mary Jane didn't seem very happy either."

" _What a surprise_. She's just resigned herself to the fact that _I won_. Peter loves _me_ and not _her_."

"Does Mary Jane really strike you as the sort of person who'd give up like that though?"

Felicia stubbornly refused to look at her mother as she answered. "When you're up against _me_ , who wouldn't give up?"

"Well, Sabretooth for one de-"

"How would you know?! You've never met Sabretooth mother. You've never even met MJ. Hell, you weren't even here when she left hours ago."

"Your right so how _could_ I know? Weren't you a private investigator Felicia? Don't you find that rather myster-"

"No! I don't find it myster- _odd!_ You probably passed her by on your way in when she was leaving."

"But you just said she'd left long before me and your father ar-"

"She was hanging outside the hotel when you arrived!"

"For hours and hours?"

"Sure, why not? Sometimes it's hard to get a cab in New York."

"Hmm maybe...And maybe she should've looked in on that British person who dropped you off here? He seemed nice didn't he? Even though his accent seemed inconsistent."

Felicia ignored her mother and continued searching the crowd for Peter. It wasn't easy because the crowd seemed to be congesting around her, making it hard to move. "Peter! Hey Spider, where are you?"

"Now Felicia is it really a good idea to yell out like that, people might find out he is Spider-Man. I mean you have been pretty careless about that throughout the party haven't you?"

"Shut up mother! My marriage to Peter is none of your business."

"Oh speaking of businesses, did you hear about the museum? Apparently Spider-Man stole their priceless emeralds. Well, he always did seem the type didn't he? Never had a guilty bone in his body, and so irresponsible at times."

"That's not true! He isn't like that!"

"No Felicia...he isn't..."

" _No,_ I mean...I mean he didn't _used_ to be like that. But I changed him. I fixed him. Because I love him. Because I know him better than anyone else, so I know he's happier this way."

"I'm sure you are right dear. How _did_ you change him by the way? He seemed very at odds with your sort of lifestyle when you first began dating didn't he? Almost like he just didn't have it in him to be like you, to be like-"

"Well, I'm a really great teacher! I just got him to relax and see things my way. To stop taking things so serious-getoutofmywayAngelica!" Felicia shoved Angelica aside as she continued to struggle through the crowd.

"And you did a wonderful job dear. He's just about everything you could ever want. After all _now_ he's just like your father."

Felicia scowled.

"That's sick moth- Peter!" She spotted Peter distantly through the crowd and the purple smoke. She began pushing against the crowd more to get to him. Her mother however seemed nonplussed.

"Oh no, it's quite natural. Your father wasn't there most of your life so you immersed yourself in everything you could find out about him. A mysterious, charming, devil-may-care lawbreaker. You fell in love with that idea didn't you dear. So it's little wonder that when you learned of a man who seemed cut from a similar cloth you were as smitten as a kitten. And they do say sons fall for women like their mothers and daughters for men like their fathers. Although I always had hopes that you and Tanny might-"

" _Fine!_ Maybe I fell for Peter because he was kind of like Dad. But what's wrong with that? Dad's great. Dad's wonderful." Peter was closer now, but the crowd seemed to be pressing in on Felicia even more than before.

"Then why are you running away from him?" Inquired Lydia.

"I'm not running away from Dad, I'm...I'm just tired of him talking about dumb fishbowls and would rather spend some time with my husband if you don't mind." Felicia continued pushing against the crowd.

"Your husband who is like your father?"

"Yeah sure! Peter is like my Dad. That's great because-Peter!" Peter was a few feet away from Felicia now. He turned around and gave her a wide inviting grin. The crowd though seemed determined to make Felicia's passage difficult, jostling her back a few inches. She pushed harder against them and managed to get one arm free, reaching out to grasp Peter's hand.

"My my, the crowd is thick here isn't it kitten."

At the sound of her father's voice the tightness in Felicia's chest returned and she began rapidly inhaling and frantically struggling against the crowd, as though trying to not be drowned by them.

"I wouldn't have thought there could be so many people in a room like this. It didn't seem that big at first did it? So how can there be this many people? Most mysterious. Very much like the smoke and the fishbowls."

Felicia struggled yet more frantically.

"You were saying dear? It's a good thing Peter is like your father because...?"

She stretched her arm and finger tips as far as she could.

"Oh look kitten the purple smoke is getting thicker. Well at least that means we won't have to stare at those dreadful bowls anymore eh? Wasn't I saying to you earlier that someone might wear one of them like a helm-"

Felicia grabbed Peter's hand! Wasting no time she promptly pulled herself free of the crowd. Peter greeted her cheerfully.

"Hey Cat. Where've you been? I've missed you."

"I...Doesn't matter." Felicia hugged Peter tight. "Tell me again what you were telling me earlier."

"You mean 'I love you'?"

"Yeah, that and all the other stuff about how you need me and I made you better and you never really loved Mary Jane." She was speaking rather quickly now, desperation underlying her tone. "Tell me all that stuff from the top. Then when you're done tell me a few more times. And maybe at some point we'll go home or prowl the rooftops or maybe even head up to one of the hotel rooms again."

"Of course we will Cat. We'll do all that stuff. Because we're finally together like we're supposed to be. We're finally going to be happy, just like your Mom and Dad."

"Ohhhh, _that's_ what you were going to say dear."

"...oh no..." Whispered Felicia.

"You were going to say that because Peter is like your father the two of you are going to be happy just like him and me are?"

" _SHUT UP!_ " Screamed Felicia. She broke away from Peter and whipped round to face her parents. "Both of you just _shut up!_ Leave us alone!"

"But why would you want us to leave dear? Don't you want to see us? Don't you love us?" Asked Felicia's mother.

"I...Of course I want to see you. Of course I love you."

"And we love you too. We want you to be happy. _Truly_ happy. Truly happy with Peter just like me and your mother are. Don't you love how happy the two of us are together?"

"Y-Yes." The reply was almost childlike.

"We might be old but we've had a lot of good years with one another. And you remember some of those times don't you Felicia? They were good times weren't they? The three of us all together."

Felicia nodded slowly, tears began to well in her eyes. "They were the best."

Walter Hardy smiled dotingly at his daughter. "They were indeed...They were the very, very best times...but Felicia...you know they weren't real don't you?"

Felicia stood there in silence amidst the thick purple smoke. Everyone but herself, Peter and her parents seemed to have vanished.

"Yo-You're wrong! They _were_ real!"

"No." Her mother shook her head sadly. "They weren't."

"Stop saying that Mom! Just stop it! Stop it right now or else I'm going to _make_ you stop it!"

Felicia took a sharp step forward, her teeth bared and her fingers (tipped with rather sharp nails) flexed.

"You can't hurt us Felicia, we're not really here. None of this is really here. Deep down you've known that all along. You've been trying to tell yourself that this whole time, but you've also been trying to lie to yourself too. To keep this wonderful little dream alive. But I'm sorry kitten, now you have to-"

" _I don't have to do anything Dad!_ I'm the Black Cat! I do what I want! I _take_ what I want! And if anyone who crosses my path gets in my way, then bad luck for them! You can't _make_ me do anything!"

"But _we_ aren't trying to make you do anything dear. _You_ are trying to make yourself do something. We already told you, we aren't really here. We're just a part of you. The part that is trying to help you, to make you _truly_ happy."

"If you wanted me to be truly happy then you'd stop this! Just let me be here with my friends and with Spider and-"

"Pretending like this won't make you happy Felicia. In your heart you know that. Deep down, you know can't live in a dream."

"Who says this is a dream?! This is New York, there are crazy super people all over the place. This could all be real, the two of you could've just been mind controlled. As for the crowd, this room is bigger than I thought and...and...And someone should take a look at that smoke machine!"

"...Felicia...dear, we all know you're just lying to-."

"I'm tired of hearing this garbage! Spider tell them. Tell them this is all real, that you and me are real. Go on, tell them-"

"I love you." Peter's reply was almost mechanical, and he said it with a somewhat vacuous look on his face.

"I love you too Spider, but will you please tell my parents that-"

"I can't live without you Felicia."

"I know, and we can put all that to the test later, after we get done-"

"You're the most gorgeous-"

"Peter _please!_ Tell my parents this is-"

"It's too late Felicia." Lydia cut in. "You can't lie to yourself anymore. Your dream is breaking down and it won't last much longer. See, all your friends have already vanished. There is nothing left here but us now."

Felicia wrapped her arms around Peter's neck and kissed him hard. " _I don't care!_ I've got him. I don't need anything else. I don't _want_ anything else!" She stared fixedly at Peter, refusing to turn her head an inch. "So long as I've got him, this is real okay. Nothing you can say will change my mi-"

"Aright kitten. Alright. You win." Her father's voice was soft and appeasing, though Felicia did not turn around to look at him. "You're right, this is all real. This room is bigger than you realized, everyone is just lost in the fog, and of course Spider-Man loves you. He's always loved you and you are going to be happy together just like me and your mother are." He paused for a moment, and for that moment the tightness in Felicia's chest eased up. "I just have one question though. Before we leave you two in peace."

"...What?" Felica asked venomously, not breaking her fixed gaze on Peter.

"All those good times you, me and your mother had. Those same times that you and Peter are going to live out together...How could they have happened if I died years ago?"

Felicia's mind went blank.

There was no tightness in her chest now. She just felt very, very numb.

"You...you didn't die years ago. You're standing right there behind me." Her reply was as numb as she felt.

"The same way Peter is standing right there in front of you. But kitten...how can that be? I must have died because you first met Peter when you broke me out of prison. Remember, you wanted me to die at home with you and your mother. I must have died, because if I didn't, wouldn't I have been there for you when you were locked up? Wouldn't I have been at your bedside after that maniac with metal arms hurt you? Wouldn't I have told you it was all alright after Peter broke your heart, and after he married Mary Jane? Wouldn't I have been worried about you when you decided to break Norman Osborn out of prison? Because if I am the wonderful father you think I am, if I loved you more than anything else in the world like you remember I do...how could I have _not_ been there for you all these years?...Unless I was dead..."

Felicia's arms slowly left Peter's neck and limply fell to her sides. "...You...You..."

"...and if I am dead I couldn't be here right now could I kitten?..."

"...I...This..."

"...Which means..."

"...This isn't real..." Breathed Felicia. "...And..."

"...And it's time to wake up kitten. I'm so sorry...but it's time to wake up."

The purple smoke began swirling around them, but Felicia didn't break her gaze from Peter. She clenched her fists and her face set into a cold expression. Tears nevertheless rolled down her cheeks.

"One question...Daddy...Who is responsible for this?"

"Oh Felicia...you know who. You've been trying to tell yourself that the whole time too. You're probably going to remember the moment you wake up."

"...Good..." She said icily. And as if it was a whisper in the air, Felicia heard her father speak one last time.

"Goodbye kitten."

"Goodbye Daddy." It was a flat monotone voice, as though Felicia was trying very, very hard to pretend she didn't care about what was happening. Despite this she took a deep breath before addressing the person before her.

"Goodbye Spider."

"Felicia, I love-"

But before Peter could finish, the swirling purple smoke enveloped him and she was alone. The smoke swirled more ferociously now, whipping Felicia's hair about her. Through it all she didn't move but, just stared blankly into space until finally...she closed her eyes.

* * *

Francis Klum had not lived the best life.

He'd endured unspeakable horrors at the hand of his drug dealing brother. He endured the stigma of being a mutant. And his career as the new Mysterio had been less than successful.

He'd obtained the identity of the master of illusion following an altercation with Spider-Man and the Black Cat on a bridge. He saved himself thanks to his superhuman ability of teleportation, but it came at the cost of horrific scars and the loss of his leg.

Since then he'd nursed a grudge against both Spider-Man and to a lesser extent the Black Cat. To help get the revenge he desired he purchased the identity of Mysterio from Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime. His foray against Spider-Man had however not gone as ideally as he'd hoped, and he'd found himself wounded and mortally poisoned. The poison however was not instantaneous, but instead slow and painful, even inhibiting the use of his mutant abilities. Klum was thus left with no hope of another assault on Spider-Man or the Black Cat.

However, he'd been approached by a certain powerful benefactor who had impressive resources and close ties with the Kingpin himself. It was from Fisk that the benefactor had learned of Klum's vendetta and had consequently contacted him. He had his own axe to grind against the Black Cat and suggested they form an alliance. The benefactor already had a plan but Klum would be providing the tech and expertise to pull it off. The idea wasn't to kill the Cat but, in the benefactor's words:

"To make it sting."

After he got done explaining it, Klum wasn't convinced, feeling it would be easier to simply murder the woman and be done with it. As time went by though he'd mostly come round to the benefactor's way of thinking. And what little part of him still had doubts didn't think it wise to irk the man. Dying as he was, Klum had no desire to make his last days any worse than they already were, which he had no doubt the benefactor could arrange.

And so the plan had gone into motion. Black Cat had been sent a message from her old friend Tamara Blake asking for her help. The story was that a powerful crime boss had targeted her due to her stealing from him. Black Cat diligently met Tamara at the warehouse she'd specified. Only it wasn't Tamara at all, but an illusion that Klum had managed to pull off. As Tamara vanished in a puff of purple smoke, the Cat was consequently cornered by dozens of armed mercenaries, who'd covered all possible escape routes. Nevertheless, Black Cat had managed to fight her way to freedom and, bruised and battered as she was, had almost slipped through their fingers.

Almost.

The benefactor himself had gone to the scene and easily subdued the Cat before she got too far. He and Klum (garbed in his full Mysterio regalia) had watched satisfactorily as she dimly registered their presence before slipping into unconsciousness. After that they transported her to another warehouse, one that had been used by the original Mysterio for a failed attempt at uncovering Spider-Man's identity.

His scheme had been to hook up half a dozen or so people to a machine which would create an elaborate mental fantasy where they could all interact together. Since all the abductees were connected to Spider-Man in some way, Mysterio had hoped to uncover the Wall-crawler's secret identity.

The plan had run afoul after the mind of one of the victims (a certain Eugene 'Flash' Thompson) had somehow asserted dominance over everyone else shaping the fantasy world into one fuelled by his own greatest desires.

Using Klum's access and knowledge of Mysterio's technology, coupled with some hired experts, the machine had been renovated and modified. What was once an unforeseen flaw in the machine was turned into its primary purpose. Once activated the machine would construct a mental illusion shaped by the deepest desires and fantasies of whoever was hooked into it.

In theory it was the perfect prison. A wonderful dream the inmate would never want to wake up from, and one that subconsciously they'd strive to maintain. Of course that would depend on the individual, as those with particularly strong wills or a nose for deduction stood a chance of recognizing the fantasy for what it was and probably fighting to free themselves.

The benefactor, knowing the Cat as he did (he'd claimed they were once 'intimate'), suspected this would be the case for her and so safeguards were built into the machine. Checks to distract the mind of their intended victim and keep the fantasy going.

But the beauty of the benefactor's plan was that the fantasy didn't even need to be permanent. It wasn't intended as a prison. It just needed to last long enough for the Cat to, in his words:

"Make it sting."

And so Black Cat had been 'plugged' into the machine. And for almost twenty four hours, she'd been blissfully living out the life she'd always wanted. What this precisely entailed Klum didn't know, his job was just to help monitor the Cat and the equipment.

It was a task he was currently failing at, though not entirely of his own fault. Between the grievous bodily injuries he'd suffered coupled with the poison that was now killing him, Klum often found himself enduring spasms of pain for minutes at a time. His current spasm had caused him to double over, his back to the monitoring equipment. The small group of staff assisting him in his task all rushed over to help.

Amidst the gaggle of worried voices, Klum's cries of pain, and the general confusion no one heard the sound of someone moving behind them.

Someone who was not happy at all.

* * *

Felicia Hardy was not a monster.

Whilst she had at times been branded a costumed criminal, she was a far cry from the true sadistic lunatics like Carnage or the Green Goblin. In fact she had (more or less) avoided killing anyone altogether.

No. Felicia was not a monster.

But she was a cat.

And when the occasion arose, cats could be creatures of spite. And it was this particular feline quality that drove Felicia to dive, claws bared, upon the huddle of people crowding over a green and purple clad figure.

She didn't aim to kill, but she only just barely managed to stop herself from maiming anyone with a well placed swipe. Seconds later the crowd scattered for the exits, nursing nasty cuts, a few broken bones and a large collection of ugly bruises.

Eventually, they were alone.

Felicia and Klum.

Black Cat and Mysterio.

Klum had rolled onto his back, unable to do anything whilst his body continued to spasm in pain.

Felicia wasted no time.

She pounced on him and savagely slashed at every part of him she could, each swipe punctuated by an agonized scream echoing from within Klum's bowl shaped helmet.

Swipe.

Scream.

Swipe.

Scream.

Swipe.

Scream.

Some part of her at the back of her mind knew that later, maybe not today or even in the next month, but _later_ , she'd regret doing this.

She knew who Klum was and knew his sad story. He'd been a victim most of his life and had even saved her from a similar fate. His encounter with her and Spider-Man had left him worse off than before and maybe some part of Felicia even felt responsible for that.

But right now she didn't care.

Right now she hated him with every atom of her being and whatever else he'd been through, nothing justified what he'd done to Felicia. And for that she was going to make him feel just the tiniest part of the pain she was feeling at this moment.

Swipe.

Scream.

Swipe.

Scream.

Swipe.

Scream.

On and on the savage rhythm went until at last...she was done.

Felicia was panting heavily through gritted teeth when she finally got up off of Klum and surveyed her work.

Klum lay amidst glistening crimson blood and tattered ribbons of green and purple cloth. Little in fact identified him as Mysterio save the absurd helmet, itself covered in flecks of blood.

Dimly Felicia noted that despite her frenzy she'd somehow managed to restrain herself enough to not kill. For all the wounds he now had, if Klum got to a hospital in time he'd live.

For Felicia though, that was an awfully big if.

She bent down to Klum, causing him to whimper. He was evidently in too much pain to actually move away from her. Felicia however did nothing more than rip off his helmet and roughly toss it aside where it shattered like glass.

Had Felicia been calmer she might've been taken aback by Klum's ravaged features. She might've felt sympathy, or even disgust. But Felicia was far beyond anything like that at this moment. At this moment her only reaction to Klum was to look him dead in the eyes and utter a single word:

" _Why?_ "

It was said in a shaking voice, but one laced with venom all the same.

Klum just stared back at her trying to catch his breath.

"I said... _WHY?!_ "

Felicia spat the last word out and flexed her bloodstained claws menacingly. Klum gulped and then winced. The action had evidently hurt more than he expected. Nevertheless slowly, rasping and inhaling as he went along, he began to reply.

"...He...He...wan...ted...it...to...to... _sting_...He...wanted...pay...back...for loving him...and...betraying him...He...he said this...was better than ki...than killing you...Said...said you'd...have to live...with this...En...Envelope..."

Klum's eyes darted to the left. Felicia moved towards a table and saw a small envelope with her name on it. She picked it up and opened it. Upon observing the contents Felicia's eyes burned with yet more hatred.

They'd worked together.

They'd been lovers.

She knew he was dangerous and a 'means justify the ends' sort of man.

And she knew she'd burned him, if not personally than at least professionally and he wasn't going to take that lightly. The success of a professional mercenary and assassin, even one who is the head of an organization of them, depends much upon reputation.

But she couldn't have realized that, as cutthroat as he was (often literally), he could be _this_ cruel.

After all it had been years. Years since they'd last seen one another. Years since she'd pretended to help him recruit Spider-Man as part of her own game playing them both. Years since she'd ruined his plans and gone on to evade his clutches.

In all that time she was sure he'd resigned himself to failure, or else simply considered her small fry. She'd sometimes wondered if in fact he might even have held a soft spot for her.

But no.

Apparently none of that applied to the man. Whether preoccupied with other business or else biding his time for something extra special, the Foreigner had not forgotten her. The signed contents of the envelope had made that clear.

"...Can't...leave...me..."

Felicia automatically looked down at the mess that was Klum. He'd been in on this. He'd helped make it happen. She didn't owe him anything. But...Felicia Hardy was not a monster.

She was however...a cat.

There was a phone on the table where the envelope had been. She picked it up and slowly walked over to Klum. She stared at him. There was no rage or malice on her face. She was passed that at the moment. Instead she fixed him with a feline look of cold indifference. She kneeled down and placed the phone close by Klum's body. Close...but not quite in arm's reach.

She stood up and took another look at Klum. His eyes were pleading with her. She turned away and walked out the door, not bothering to close it behind her.

A moment later a gust of wind blew in from the open door, causing the blood stained contents of the envelope to fly off the table and lightly fall on the floor.

Despite the bright and loud words and pictures, the printed message on the card's cover was a simple one.

Happy Birthday.


	8. Chapter 8: Happy Halloween

**_For some reason Halloween has the Parker Industries C.E.O. Peter Parker acting out of the ordinary._**

 _This story is set in between the events of Amazing Spider-Man Volume 3 #18 and Amazing Spider-Man Volume 4 #1._

 _Please leave feedback when your done reading._

 _Enjoy!_

* * *

"Peter! Hi, I'm glad I caught you. I need you to take a look at these new designs for the Webware prototype."

Anna Maria Marconi bustled towards her partner Peter Parker, the rising star of the corporate world. Though it was Peter's name which adorned the Parker Industries logo, Anna Maria handled the day-to-day running of the business. Or at least she handled more than Peter did.

In his defence, Peter did have other priorities; ones which mostly involved webbed spandex. But in Anna Maria's opinion this didn't excuse him from any and all duties when it came to running the company; especially right now, when things had been particularly difficult for months. After all, it hadn't been that long ago that their old corporate headquarters had been destroyed, setting back the projects they'd been working on and tarnishing the reputation of the young Parker Industries . Since then she and others had worked hard to rebuild what they'd lost and earn back public trust.

"Sorry, I've got to be somewhere." Peter's reply was quiet and measured. It lacked the guilt ridden doom and gloom Anna Maria had come to note in Peter from time to time. But it was also devoid of his general air of cheeriness too.

"Excuse me?" Anna Maria was making a very conscious effort to reign in her indignation. "Peter, this is important, Webware is going to be one of our biggest products."

"I know. And I _will_ take a look at them. Just not today."

There it was again. That same quiet, measured tone.

Anna Maria hadn't known Peter for very long, but even so she could tell something was different about him. She hadn't seen him all day and that itself was odd. She'd not heard of any crisis which required Spider-Man's special attention. And she'd been informed that Peter had come into their temporary office building in the morning as usual.

She'd been too busy to check in on him herself, but now she thought about it she surely would've seen Peter in and around the building as she'd made her rounds among the staff. Which meant Peter had simply kept to himself that day, something he'd never done in all the time they'd been rebuilding Parker Industries.

Realizing this she felt a kind of concern. She didn't have much in the way of real affection for Peter; even calling them friends would've been a stretch. They were first and foremost business partners and given how important he was for the company (and by her own future by extension) if something was wrong she wanted to know about it.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

"...I'm fine. Really I am. I just...I have somewhere to be."

Peter's answer had come just a second too long after she'd asked. It was enough to confirm Anna Maria's suspicions that there was something going on. It had also however served to convince her that she wasn't going to get anything more out of him right now, let alone dissuade him from going to wherever he was planning on going. With that Peter turned away and began to walk towards the door.

"You going trick-or-treating?" She called after him.

To her surprise, Peter turned abruptly back to face her.

"What?" His tone was sharp and almost sounded like it was shocked. It was hardly warranted in response to her light jab.

"I...I was just joking. You...You're not _actually_ going trick-or-treating are you?"

For a split second Anna Maria thought she saw an icy look cross Peter's face. But it came and went so fast she wasn't even sure if she'd just imagined it or not.

"No." He replied flatly, before heading out the door.

Anna Maria watched him walking away through the office windows until he was out of sight. After that she just shook her head in exacerbation and made her way to the next department, brushing aside a paper skeleton that hung from the ceiling as she entered.

* * *

As Spider-Man swung past endless rows of window sills he did his best to ignore the decorative jack-o'-lanterns adorning them. He applied the same discipline for the other Halloween decorations he encountered. The wailing ghosts, the oversized spiders...the cackling goblins.

He did however keep a note of how many kids he'd spotted going door to door dressed in Spidey outfits, though he wasn't sure if he should count the ones garbed in Miles' sleek black and red number or Miguel's edgier futuristic suit. He let the thought drift away as he gracefully descended behind a building where his Spider Sense informed him he would be left in peace to change.

In less than a minute, he'd removed his mask and gloves and pulled on his civilian clothes on over the rest of his costume. It was nothing fancy, an old but beloved pair of jeans from Aunt May, a dark jacket, and a blue hooded top. He was relieved to be out of the business suit he'd had to wear in recent months. Whilst it certainly made him feel more professional around the office (and let him believe he actually _knew_ what he was doing), the truth was it was more for the press than for his benefit.

Parker Industries reputation was growing now that the public faith had mostly been restored. With that came renewed interest in the up and coming 'boy genius' (a title Peter had scoffed at given his age) who was slowly but surely revolutionizing the tech industry. As such, everyone from Anna Maria to Aunt May had insisted he 'look the part' just in case a press opportunity came. It was after all important for the success of the company, the company upon which a lot of people's futures were riding. Peter had accepted this, along with the attention he got when just walking down the street.

A part of Peter, the same part who'd gone into show business so long ago, enjoyed this attention. A much larger part of him however preferred the days when the most notice he got on the street was as 'that guy who takes pictures of Spider-Man'.

He breathed out small laugh. "Heh, now I know how it felt to be-" He stopped before he could finish the thought. It still stung to remember those times when they were together. Today had been hard enough already. And it wasn't over yet.

Peter pulled the hood over his head and began to walk. He headed towards the tiny store he always visited on this day. Although he knew it'd make more sense to have gone there earlier in the week it had inadvertently become a tradition that he purchase what he was after on Halloween itself.

Unfortunately work at Parker Industries had held him up so he hadn't quite made it out here as early as he'd wanted. As successful as the business was going right now, it seemed Peter was still not above the occasional strike of the Parker Luck and predictably the store was closing by the time he got there.

"We're closing up man." Said the dark haired storekeeper at the door.

"Aw c'mon! I just need five minutes."

"Sorry, I'm in a hurry."

"So am I!" Peter sighed in frustration. "...what if I pay double?"

The storekeeper cocked an eyebrow before shrugging.

"Alright, alright come in. Just don't take too long"

Stepping over the threshold, Peter quickly scanned the tiny store and picked up a glass lantern and a large candle. He continued to look around for a minute before turning back to the storekeeper behind the counter.

"Don't you have any more of these?" He held up the candle. The storekeeper shook his head.

"Sorry, we under ordered this year by mistake. What with the season and all your lucky you even found that one."

Peter let out an exacerbated breath.

"Look, I _really_ need two of these."

"Hey pal, that's all I got. Now are you gonna pay up or-"

Just then the door of the store creaked open.

"Yo bro, what's the hold up here?"

Another man, almost identical to the storekeeper save for his blonde hair, walked in accompanied by an 8 year old boy dressed as Captain America and a similarly aged girl dressed as Spider-Man.

"Just gotta deal with this last customer Johnny. You wanna get the kids started on this block?"

"I would but-"

"Daddy, I want you to come too." Piped up the little girl.

Peter's grip on the lantern tightened as he watched the family. He turned his gaze from them and back onto the storekeeper.

"It's fine." He said quietly. "I'll just take what you've got."

Moments later he was walking down the street with the candle and lantern in tow, cursing the fact that for the first time, he wasn't going to be able to do things properly this year. And that killed him almost as much as seeing those people in the store.

As he continued his walk he kept his hood up and his eyes down, not wanting to catch sight of any more families.

* * *

It took him awhile to get there on foot, but much like buying the candle on the day, this was part of the tradition. No quick and easy web-swinging.

Some years he hated that because it meant he had more time to dwell on things and would prefer to get everything over with quickly. Other years the slower pace felt good, almost like exorcising a poison from his body.

This year it felt good, but in a different way. This year the walk and the thoughts and the memories hurt. But Peter 'King of Guilt' Parker just now felt like he deserved that for his lateness. It was something so simple, the least he could do for them today. And somehow, he'd managed to mess it up.

All in all he was more angry than sad when he finally got to the Brooklyn Bridge. He walked halfway along and glanced at his watch.

19:58.

"I'm not late. At least that's something." He muttered.

"You still talk to yourself tiger?"

Peter turned his head and spotted her there in the flesh, garbed in a black boots and a large overcoat she'd buttoned up against the cold.

"Mary Jane?" It felt weird saying her name out loud after all these months. "What are you...I mean, I thought you wouldn't-"

"That I wouldn't come here today?"

She spoke in a quiet measured tone of her own. To someone who didn't know her as well as Peter did, it might've come off cold. He however knew she meant it more as a statement of fact, rather than something passive aggressive.

"It's just that...When you were in L.A., after Harry came back...you didn't show up. With things the way they are between us now, I just thought..." He trailed off, uncertain what to say.

MJ held his gaze as she raised her head slightly, an almost regal gesture.

"I did show up back then... It was just after you'd left. I was...well, I was trying to avoid you." She gave a little shrug. "It was pretty childish to be honest."

"...You're here now though..."

Peter was staring at Mary Jane dead in the eyes. She continued to stare right back.

"This is important."

Eventually Peter broke his gaze. He had an idea he might've crossed some kind of line, or was close to doing so in any case. He lifted the lantern onto the side of the bridge, placing the candle to the side of it.

"I messed up MJ." He was looking at the candle as he said this. He knew MJ was unlikely to react with disappointed, let alone anger or anything like that. Still, just then he didn't want to address her directly over his screw up. Not when it was something like this.

"What are you talking about?" She asked out of sight.

"I only got one candle. The stores had all run out by the time I got to them." He was still avoiding looking at her.

"Electro keep you busy tiger?" A tiny smile passed across Peter's face despite himself. Mary Jane had a knack for that.

"Actually it was work. Normal work, I mean."

"Oh...well that makes a change I guess." Out of the corner of Peter's eye, he noticed Mary Jane was searching her purse. "I read about you in a magazine by the way." She said distractedly. "Sounds like you're a real high flyer now. Well...more than you've always been I mean."

"Thanks." He wasn't sure what else to say. It was strange for them to be talking about his life this way, as if they were mere acquaintances. "...I'm sorry MJ."

"...For what?" Her voice was slightly shaky as she asked the question, as though she was afraid of where the conversation was going.

"For the messing up tonight." Peter heard a tiny sigh of relief. "I didn't mean for this to happen." Peter finally turned to address MJ face to face again. "I just-"

He stopped midsentence at the sight of MJ. She was holding a candle and a lantern of her own.

"I thought I'd bring a spare...just in case." She said simply.

After a moment Peter craned his head towards his own candle and gave a little jerk in its direction. MJ took the hint and placed her own candle and lantern next to his.

Peter handed MJ the matches he'd brought with him and she proceeded to light her candle; Peter followed suit with his own. Together they carefully placed them in their glass lanterns.

When they were done they took a step back.

For awhile they stared at the lanterns side by side, lost in the dancing of the twin flames.

"I don't think about him as much as I should."

Neither of them was sure how much time had passed when Peter said it. Though her face didn't show it, the statement had taken MJ aback in the midst of the silence. It took her a moment or two before she replied.

"That doesn't mean you didn't love him Peter...It doesn't mean you don't _still_ love him."

Peter gave a derisive laugh.

"How can you say that MJ?"

Her eyes narrowed in frustration on Peter's behalf. Whatever had happened between them, she'd always hated it when he did this to himself.

"Because I know you."

She let her statement hang in the air for a second, hoping it'd sink in.

"I know how much you cared about him. I know that he's half the reason you've kept wearing that suit ever since he died...And I think you know the real reason you don't think about him all that much."

Peter stared deeply into the flickering flame of his candle, considering the question and thinking back painfully to his all too brief time with the man in question.

"Because it hurts too much." He replied after a while.

"...Yeah..." Said MJ quietly. "We have to keep going no matter what, and sometimes that means pushing the pain we feel away. I should know. I did it for years growing up. And after Mom died. And..."

MJ couldn't finish. She just stared intently into her own flame and seemed to get lost in it.

"...And you do it now about...her..."

Peter looked at MJ, who was still staring straight ahead at her candle.

"...Yes..." It was spoken in a whisper. "It...It hurts too much when I think about..." Her eyes narrowed. "...You know what I mean?"

She turned to look back at Peter.

"...Yeah...I know... _I know_ MJ."

MJ looked back towards the candles and then further out over the water.

"One day. One day a year we remember them properly. One day a year we..."

"...We let it hurt..." Peter finished.

"...Right..." MJ gave a sad nod.

Another long silence followed this, the pair of them turning back to the candles. Once again, it was Peter who broke this.

"...I keep thinking every time we come here, how different it would be if they were here with us. What we'd be doing."

"We'd be with all those other people out tonight." MJ chuffed in amusement. "You and Ben would've been bored though...you two dressed up all year round."

"He'd have loved it." Smiled Peter. "He was just like that. He loved life because he knew what it was like not having one...God I miss him..."

"...Me too...But..." Mary Jane gulped slightly. "...I miss her too..."

Peter heard a small yet sharp in taking of breath. The sound caused him to close his eyes momentarily, as if he was somehow in pain.

"I know that's stupid because we never...but I _knew_ her Peter. _We_ knew her. We loved her and...I miss her."

Mary Jane's began to sob. Without thinking about it Peter wrapped his arms around her.

He was crying too.

Were this any other day and any other moment he might've felt like nothing had changed. That he and MJ still had one another and everything was going to be okay somehow.

But on this day and in this moment, his mind was blank beyond just comforting the only other person who truly understood the loss he felt deep down.

Eventually, after what seemed like hours, they parted. Neither of them said anything else after that. There was nothing left to be said.

But they stood there, together, side by side, watching the candles burn bright in the darkness of the night.


	9. Chapter 9: Just One More!

_**Peter Parker has faced down super villains no problem but New York City night clubs? They're a bit trickier. Perhaps a certain Mary Jane Watson can help him out?**_

 _For context's case imagine this story takes place some undisclosed amount of time in the future where Peter and Mary Jane have gotten back together._

 _Please leave feedback!_

* * *

The music was pounding in Peter's ears and what little light there was dazzled across the large room, illuminating the dancers and the drinks in their hands.

It was almost three o'clock in the morning and Peter felt out of his comfort zone. Usually at this time of night he'd either be at home asleep or swinging through the city as Spider-Man. But when invited to hit the city's dance clubs he'd eventually agreed in order to appease-

"MJ!" He yelled over at a red haired figure several feet away, raising his arm to catch her attention. She turned her head sharply at the mention of her name and flashed Peter a winning smile. Peter manoeuvred across the crowded floor towards the beckoning MJ, trying his best not to spill the drinks he was holding. He just about succeeded even with his spider sense helping him. Sitting down next to MJ on a sofa he passed over her drink.

"Where've you been tiger?" MJ yelled over trying to make herself heard over the loud music.

"Sorry, I lost sight of you when I went to buy these." Peter nodded his head towards the drinks. "I've been scanning the dance floor for ages trying to catch sight of you."

"Maybe I should've clicked your little tracer." MJ grinned cheekily.

"I doubt that would've helped in this place." Peter said. MJ shook her head and smiled.

"Peter I was joking. You need to loosen up a bit." She took a sip of her drink after she said this and Peter's eyes followed the glass as she lowered it.

"Well I would but...you know...I never know when duty will call." Peter paused for a moment to take a swig out of his orange juice. Lowering it, he passed a glance back over MJ's drink. "You sure you don't mind me not keeping up with you. Maybe I could try just one glass of-"

" _Tiger!_ " MJ said putting a hand on his arm. "Seriously it's fine. Besides..." She took another, much slower, sip from her glass whilst keeping eye contact with Peter "...you couldn't keep up with me anyway. A few cups of punch and you're done for the night. Me I'm still fine. Plus I wanted to remember our first night out like this since we got back together." She raised her glass and smiled. "Happy two-and-a-half month anniversary."

Peter raised his own glass. "Happy two-and-a-half." They lightly tapped their glasses against one another and drank. Just as MJ lowered her empty glass (and Peter lowered his not quite empty orange juice) MJ suddenly grabbed Peter's hand.

"Hey I _love_ this song!" Peter was forced to leave behind his drink as MJ dragged him onto the dance floor as though _she_ was the one with super strength.

Peter did his best to dance but he'd never been that great at it. MJ however was having the time of her life and for awhile Peter was pretty sure she wouldn't have minded if he'd been there or not.

The song seemed to last for hours before the music changed. "Just one more!" MJ teasingly pleaded with Peter, who balked and continued to dance. MJ evidently wasn't as big of a fan of this song because she was paying a bit more attention to Peter and couldn't help giggling over what passed for dance moves in his book. Peter's cheeks flushed in embarrassment but he didn't mind that much given how much amusement he was evidently giving MJ.

"Oh, please tiger you gotta stay here for just _one_ more!" MJ pleaded again when the music changed to a new song. So Peter continued to embarrass himself next to MJ who kept on laughing and smiling throughout the song as well as the next one, and the one after that, and the one after that. Eventually Peter himself started laughing too, not much caring about the sporadic glances he received from several other dancers.

The club was starting to empty when the final song of the night began playing. Evidently the club felt it was the best choice to clear the place out for the night because in contrast to the loud and pumping music they'd been dancing to, this song was slower and softer. Peter began to turn away, expecting that they'd be leaving now and he'd be dropping MJ off home.

"Hey..." Said a soft voice near him. "Where're you going?" Peter turned back to see MJ still standing in the same spot on the dance floor. She reached out her hand to him and tilted her head.

"Just one more?"

Peter slowly took her hand and MJ moved closer. As they began to sway and turn on the spot, she put her arms around his neck and he put his on her waist. Despite being the last song of the night, it felt to Peter like they stayed dancing like this for longer than all the other songs combined.

After a long while, when they were among the only people left on the dark dance floor, Peter made a decision. Gulping slightly and looking down he spoke in a quiet voice.

"MJ...Do...Do you w-"

"No." MJ said, cutting him off.

Peter paused for a moment before replying.

"Oh. That's okay. I didn't mean to-"

"No, I don't want to be alone tonight."

Peter met her gaze, a little taken aback.

"That's what you were going to say right?"

"...No...Not exactly..."

"...Silly me..." Whispered MJ, kissing Peter as the last song came to a close.


	10. Chapter 10: Wasted Time Version 1

**_Peter and Mary Jane are back together, and yet something is eating away at Mary Jane..._**

 _I've done two versions of this story so I'd appreciate it if people could read both parts and tell me which one they prefer._

 _As for the story itself, you can either imagine this story taking place during J. Michael Straczynski's run on Spider-Man shortly after Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 #54 or at some indeterminate point in time in the future from the current status quo, where Peter and Mary Jane have recently gotten back together._

 _Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback._

* * *

It was dark in the bedroom. The only source of light came from the illuminated outline of a door adjacent to the bed where a hairdryer was whirring away.

Peter had been lying down and staring straight up at the ceiling fan for almost an hour now. He decided to stretch his legs and padded over to the window. He moved the blinds and gazed out upon New York at night.

He was so lost in the beauty of the cityscape he'd not realised the whirring sound had stopped and the door had creaked open behind him.

"Enjoying yourself?" A soft voice asked him.

Peter turned around and saw MJ standing in the doorway, holding the hairdryer, steam evaporating behind her. Seeing her framed like that reminded Peter of when he first laid eyes on MJ in the doorway of Anna Watson's home so many years ago. Except back then she had been wearing more than a bathrobe.

"Yeah." He replied.

"Didn't realise you had such a great view from here. Usually we're too... _preoccupied_ whenever we come up here."

MJ gave a small smile as she walked across the room and flicked on a light switch, bathing the room in a soft orange glow.

"We've been _preoccupied_ a lot lately." She said mischievously.

Peter walked over to her and put his arms around her waist.

"Probably making up for lost time." He said, returning MJ's mischievous tone. Mary Jane put her arms around Peter's neck and hugged him.

"More like wasted time." She said quietly.

"Compared to this any other time is time wasted." He whispered as he kissed her neck. But MJ wasn't in the mood, removing her arms from around Peter's neck and gently pushing away from him. Peter's look of light disappointment was replaced by one of concern as MJ fixed him with a sad and sombre look.

"I'm serious though tiger. When I think back on all that time we spent apart, I...I just can't believe how stupid I-"

"Hey!" Peter interrupted sharply. "How stupid _I_ -"

"How stupid _we_ were." It was MJ who interrupted this time.

"I mean our lives...our lives aren't exactly safe. However much we try to not think about it, at the back of our minds...we know that one of us might not make it through the day because of one nut job or another. And between when I left and went to L.A. and when we got back together, we just wasted...God; I don't even know how much time. But it was time we could've spent together instead of being apart for just...just meaningless reasons..."

She looked down at the ground sadly. "And we're never gonna get that time back."

Peter moved his hands down from MJ's waist to her hands, squeezing them lightly.

"I know MJ. I know." He said softly.

"But...It's pointless to beat ourselves up over the time we've lost. Not when we could take the time we have now and make it count...Okay?"

MJ stared back at Peter for a second or two before answering.

"Okay." She said with a little nod. She gave a small smile and tilted her head.

"When did we switch places? Aren't _I_ usually the one telling _you_ to stop worrying?"

Peter chuckled slightly.

"I dunno...maybe we're rubbing off on one another."

MJ arched an eyebrow.

"Interesting choice of words..."

She turned the light back off.


	11. Chapter 11 Wasted Time Version 2

**_Peter and Mary Jane are back together, and yet something is eating away at Mary Jane..._**

 _I've done two versions of this story so I'd appreciate it if people could read both parts and tell me which one they prefer._

 _As for the story itself, you can either imagine this story taking place during J. Michael Straczynski's run on Spider-Man shortly after Amazing Spider-Man Volume 2 #54 or at some indeterminate point in time in the future from the current status quo, where Peter and Mary Jane have recently gotten back together._

 _Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback._

* * *

Peter stared up at the ceiling as the fan slowly turned. His fingers were linked behind his head on the pillow. Golden light filtered through the blinds onto the bed as the sun set over New York City and night began descending.

Peter turned his head and stared towards the window, peering at the city through the gaps in the blinds.

"Nice view you've got here" He called out.

"You haven't noticed that before?" MJ replied, raising her voice so Peter could hear. The corner of his mouth twitched into a tiny smile.

"Whenever I've been in here we've been kinda busy."

He heard hinges lightly creek and turned his head back so that he was now facing the opposite side of the bed. The once slightly adjacent door was now fully open, with MJ standing in it giving Peter a small smile. Peter was reminded of when he first laid eyes on MJ in the doorway of Anna Watson's home many years ago. Except back then she hadn't been wearing a bathrobe and her hair wasn't slightly wet.

"We've been 'kinda busy' a lot recently" She said, as she crossed the room and lay on the bed next Peter, tossing his shirt onto the floor. Peter turned his head back up to the ceiling to watch the fan.

"Probably making up for lost time" He said casually.

There was a slight pause before MJ leaned over and kissed his cheek. Peter moved his gaze away from the ceiling and onto MJ.

"More like wasted time" She said quietly, before she kissed him again, this time on the lips. Peter unlinked his fingers and moved his arm and torso around so that he could hug MJ around the waist.

"Compared to this any other time is time wasted" He teased, after they'd broken apart. His expression changed though when he saw that MJ didn't seem amused at all. "What's the matter?" He asked.

MJ continued to look more serious as she sat up and propped a pillow behind her. Peter followed suit. For a moment or two MJ just stared out straight ahead.

"It's just..." She began, seemingly searching for the right words. "It's just...we really did waste time didn't we?"

MJ's head turned to look at Peter, who just stared at her, unsure of what to say. "Errrr..." Was about all he could manage.

MJ seemed slightly exacerbated, but also slightly amused. "What I mean is...whether it was months or years...we wasted a lot of time we could've spent together. Time we can't get back. All because I was-"

"Hey, no!" Peter interjected. "Don't blame yourself okay. I was the one who-"

This time MJ interjected. " _You_ , me, both of us, whatever. Point is...whether we weren't in a good place, or being stupid, or prideful, or however you want to look at it...we spent a lot of time apart. Or at least not together. Not like we are now anyway. And recently...recently it's been getting me kinda..." MJ trailed off and turned away, uncertainty etched on her face.

"Anxious?" Peter offered. MJ shrugged and gave a small nod. "But why though? MJ we're together now right? What's to worry about?"

MJ didn't answer immediately, but instead continued to stare dead ahead. Finally though, she turned back to look at Peter. Staring straight into his face she replied in a flat and neutral voice.

"I'm worried something bad will happen to us?"

Peter was surprised at this. He'd thought things had been going very well since he and MJ got back together awhile ago. "I...I thought we were good MJ. Not perfect or anything, but I thought we were in a good place. You seemed...you seemed happy."

"I am!" MJ exclaimed, taking Peter's hands in hers'. "Really I am. We're great, tiger. Really great."

"Then if _you're_ feeling good about us...Are you anxious because you think _I'm_ not? Because if you are you gotta know MJ these passed months have bee-"

MJ shook her head, the glint of a smile at Peter's befuddlement crossing her mouth. "Tiger, I'm not worried about you. Or me! At least...not in that way"

"Then what way are you talking about?" For a second or two, MJ didn't break her gaze. But then she turned away and sat on the side of the bed. For about two or three minutes she didn't do anything. Peter waited patiently as the light in the room diminished to the point where it was too dark to see properly. And then, from out of the semi-darkness MJ spoke.

"I'm...I'm worried one of us will get hurt..."

Peter stared at MJ's back, a dark silhouette in the withering light.

"Wh...Why would you think that..." He asked.

He saw MJ turn around to look at him, flicking on a lamp next to the bed, illuminating a look of almost sad exacerbation.

"Come on tiger...you know why."

Peter sighed deeply.

"That other guy in our relationship..."

"There is no other guy tiger. Just you."

"And I thought we'd put things to bed about...me...?"

"We have. Or we pretty much have."

"You know the risks MJ. You accepted them. I accepted them. I know it's hard for you. Heck it's hard for me too but...after all this time I thought we'd...come to an understanding"

"We have come to an understanding Peter. It's just...Our lives are dangerous. Hell living in this city, _everyone's_ life is dangerous, but ours more than most. And...however much either of us tries not to think about that, at the back of our minds we both know that any moment of any day might be our last. Every time we say goodbye to one another we both know there is a chance, a very real chance, that one of us might not come back.

I mean let's be honest here tiger, ever since we began our life together the reason why we took every chance we could to... _be together_ , was because we never knew that'd be our last chance."

Peter frowned. "But what's that got to do with us now? Whether it's here or at my place, we're just doing what we did before, right? Why's that got you worried"

MJ took Peter's hand and squeezed it gently for a moment. "Because...we wasted so much time apart Peter. And I can't help thinking, what if something happens _now_. Now that we're back together. Cruel irony, wouldn't that just be-"

"The 'Parker Luck'?" Peter butted in.

MJ tilted her head to the side, then shrugged. "Well...yeah something like that. After all that time we could've spent together, but didn't for...for meaningless reasons, we get screwed when we _finally_ figure things out. And then one or both of us are left wishing we'd not thrown away that time we had by _not_ being together. Wishing we could've used that time for one more moment with each other."

Peter looked down and closed his eyes. Realising how this had been eating away at MJ stung bad. He opened them again and took MJ's other hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"Mary Jane...we...we can't worry about that stuff. And we can't get back the time we lost. Because you're right...we've always made the most of the time we've had together, because we never know for certain if we'll have anymore. So...as much time as we wasted before when we weren't together...we can't afford to waste anymore time worrying about the yesterdays we've lost, or if we will or won't have any tomorrows. Let's just...Let's just live as much for today as we can...okay?"

MJ gave him a piercing look before slowly nodding and again squeezing peter's hand. "Sorry for being...well...like you most of the time honestly. All worry and guilt." She gave a tiny little smile which Peter returned.

"It's okay. For the record I didn't mind 'being you' for a change. Though I don't like how we seem to be rubbing off on each other."

MJ arched an eyebrow.

"Well...I dunno about that..."

The room fell into total darkness as MJ turned the lamp off.


	12. Chapter 12: Past Partners

**_Mary Jane and Glory Grant meet for a casual lunch date. Surely nothing personal will come to light? Right?_**

 _This story is set during the Spider-Man comics published during the mid 1990s, specifically the Clone Saga. This story occurs sometime after Spectacular Spider-Man #229 and before Spider-Man: The Final Adventure #1. This is sort of my attempt to explain some things that happened in Spec #229 as well as the MC2 universe if you want to look at it that way._

 _Please leave a review as I am keen for feedback._

* * *

Peter strolled into the lab of Seward Trainer. He wasn't exactly in a good mood; but he was in a determined one. You didn't mess around when it came to things like this.

Recently Peter had been overjoyed to learn that his wife Mary Jane was pregnant. However his life had been turned upside down upon his learning that he was a clone of the original Peter Parker, created by the madman known as the Jackal a.k.a. Miles Warren, his old college professor. Peter had come close to the edge when he heard that and had even gone over it to some extent. He seethed at himself over the horrible memory of when he first heard the news.

It wasn't the moment he knew for certain that he was a clone which hurt. It was the rage which had engulfed him. The months before that day had put him through a series of traumatic events any one of which alone would have broken a lesser man. His best friend Harry had died. He'd lost his parents a second time. His aunt had entered a coma and then died not long afterwards. He'd been accused of murder, and a host of other traumas large and small seriously affected him as well. As such hearing he was a clone had been the straw which broke the camel's back and Peter had just snapped.

He viciously attacked his clone Ben Reilly.

 _No_. He thought. _I'm the clone. Ben is the original Peter Parker. I have to get used to that fact_.

In the attack he'd been so consumed by his rage that it blinded him to his surrounding, he had become utterly unaware of everything surrounding him save for Ben. It was during that rage, and during his blanking out of his surroundings that it had happened.

Mary Jane had instinctively tried to stop Peter and had placed her hand on his arm for just a second. He was told later she'd been screaming at him to stop but, again, his rage had served to deafen him to his surroundings.

His spider enhanced reflexes and strength conspired with his rage to make him simply react without thinking with astonishing speed and he'd flung his arm out, knocking Mary Jane into a wall without realising what he'd done or even that it had been her who was behind him.

Peter intellectually knew that he genuinely hadn't realised she was there...but that didn't stop him from feeling guilty. Of hating himself for that moment more than he had hated any of the villains who'd tried to hurt him or his loved ones over the years.

That had been bad enough but not long afterwards Mary Jane had fainted and been rushed to hospital. The doctors had said her condition was critical (although he also found out she had been standing up and walking around afterwards which made him question their judgment) and it was all because of traces of radioactivity in her bloodstream. Those were having an adverse affect alongside the normal hormonal changes in her pregnancy and so both her life and the baby's had become endangered.

Ben's friend Seward Trainer, a geneticist and confidant to the Parkers, had been examining Mary Jane beforehand and had detected genetic anomalies. He'd given the baby the all clear but when MJ fell ill he showed up on Ben's request with a good idea of what had happened. He had explained that MJ's condition was even worse than he had anticipated and had explained it had been one of several possibilities. As such he had prepared an antidote and not told the Parkers since alarming them would have served no purpose.

After a crisis involving Trainer's super villain daughter (Lady Octopus) had served to prevent the antidote from getting to the hospital, Peter and Ben suited up as Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spider and eventually retrieved it. In the process Peter had decided to give up life as Spider-Man and handed the mantle over to Ben. MJ was doing fine but now Peter wanted some answers and only Trainer could give them to him.

"Hey Pete." Said Ben.

 _Oh...I didn't know he'd be here_ thought Peter. He didn't know why he'd imagine he'd find Trainer alone. Ben was something like a son to Trainer so it was only natural that in seeking out one you might encounter the other.

"Hi Ben. What's up?"

Ben was carrying a large box and put it down.

"Nothing much. Just helping Trainer shift some of this equipment"

"I'd do it myself but I can't lift 10 tons over my head." Peter turned to the right where Trainer was emerging out of a room. "Hello there Peter. What brings you here? Is everything alright with Mary Jane?"

"She's fine Seward. The baby's fine as well but...it's about what happened at the hospital recently"

"Oh yes?" Trainer raised an eyebrow. "What about it?"

"You see I...I..." Peter decided to leave manners to one side and simply be direct. "Trainer...I want to know _exactly_ how those radioactive traces got into my wife's blood."

Seward inhaled and then exhaled slowly through his nostrils. "I think Peter...what you're really asking is...did they came from you?"

As Ben looked from Trainer to Peter and back again, Peter stared Trainer dead in the eyes then exhaled himself.

"...Yes. MJ and me are usually careful whenever she touches my blood. We know it's radioactive but it can't hurt you unless it gets into your system and I've never given her a blood transfusion or anything like that. Heck whenever she touches my blood she either wears gloves or makes sure she hasn't got any openings in her skin so no blood could get in. Not that if it did it's likely to transfer any radioactivity. The radiation is so sparse that you're need a whole transfusion's worth to transfer even a particle to someone and-"

"...And even if a particle got in, her body would deal with it or the white blood cells from your blood would address the problem." Cut in Trainer. "Yes I know all that Peter, we have discussed this. I know that just like I know how, from time to time, you check out the radioactivity in your blood to ensure there aren't any worrying changes-"

"...And check out MJ from time to time too, just to make sure there is no radioactivity her either." This time Peter cut in. "If I had even seen a tiny amount of radioactivity I would've taken steps to make sure there wasn't even the possibility of her getting harmed. I'd have gotten ISO-36 or taken her to see Reed Richards or someone else, even if it'd expose my identity. I mean she gets screened for cancer every now and then anyway, just to be sure; she did used to smoke after all."

Peter turned his whole body to directly face Trainer now and he slightly clenched his fists too. "So you tell me Trainer...how did the radioactivity get in there? Did...did you know about it?"

Trainer's expression didn't waver but he did decide to walk around the room a little bit whilst he began to talk. "Not as such. I'd examined Ben enough times to know about his radioactive blood and your wife was lightly insisting I run radiation checks. I would have done so any way, or at least I would've checked her blood in the first place. Blood tests are relatively standard procedure for most pregnant women. Not only does it give you an idea of the mother's health but it allows you to prepare for any possible problems like if the mother or the child is rhesus negative."

"Yeah yeah I know all about that" Peter said impatiently.

"Er...I don't." Said Ben, sounding stupider than he actually was.

"You don't?" Peter was surprised. Ben was a scientist like him, how could he not know about rhesus negative?

"Well I'm not the expectant father; I haven't read up on this stuff. What the heck is rhesus negative?

Peter mentally checked himself. Ben and he might share the same memories but Peter had been given the luxury of completing his education and as someone hoping for kids (which Ben hadn't considered when he believed Peter had been the original) he'd obviously read up on this stuff.

Trainer stopped his little walk and turned to address Ben. "Rhesus negative is a particular quality in the blood of a minority of people. Often if mothers possess this quality and are exposed to rhesus positive blood their bodies' create antibodies which fight against the rhesus positive blood. The danger being that in rare instances where a baby's and it's mother's blood mixes the mother's own body will fight against the baby. It's normally not a problem and only a danger if there is a second pregnancy where the baby's blood is again rhesus positive. There is a simple treatment to deal with it which neutralises that element in the baby's blood. Without that treatment the mother's body can attack the baby as a pathogen and thereby endanger it's life and potentially the mother's as well. It's all because in an odd way a baby is a kind of parasite as far as the mother's body is concerned. But certain hormones dictate that the mother's body _doesn't_ harm the baby."

Peter's impatience was rearing it's head again now. "Thanks for that lecture. But can we get back on topic please?"

"Oh sorry." Said Trainer looking slightly embarrassed. "Well I checked out Mary Jane's blood and found no radioactive traces within it. Even if I had, don't you think I would have told you, or her, or even Ben here about it to keep you vigilante should anything happen? Don't you think I would have gotten some of that ISO-36 to neutralise the radiation or given her the antidote as soon as I developed it?"

There was a twinge of hurt in Trainer's voice. Maybe it was the idea of his professionalism being questioned? But Peter suspected it was more a bit more personal than that. Nevertheless Peter pressed on.

"But at the hospital you said you knew MJ's life was going to be endangered."

"No, I said it was a possibility. I was referring to the minute possibility that the baby would have radioactive blood like you and that the blood might intermingle with the Mary Jane's. Usually that can't happen except in exceptional circumstances. However Mary Jane has not necessarily been...handled, as gently as she perhaps ought to have been so there was a possible risk of her's and the baby's blood intermingling."

That now all too familiar self-hatred seethed within Peter for a second.

"On top of that those genetic anomalies I detected initially in the pregnancy might have altered the nature of the pregnancy from a normal human one so that it may well be possible for the mother and baby's blood to intermingle. Remember Peter when it comes to this sort of thing we are in uncharted territory. Apart from you and Ben here no one else possesses your unique abilities and no one else has attempted to pass them on to the next generation. Your child and Mary Jane's _are_ the precedent. The trend setters if you will."

Curiously Peter didn't feel like much of a pioneer.

"I still don't understand why you didn't warn us about this?"

"As I said at the hospital it would have served no purpose. You and Mary Jane were going through a hard enough time as it was. I didn't want to make you needlessly worry about something which was a remote possibility and only one of several _other_ possibilities. I prepared the antidote secretly and vowed to only use it if necessary."

"You should have told us!"

Peter didn't mean to raise his voice like that and Ben inched a little bit towards Trainer. Trainer though was stone faced.

"Perhaps." He said deadpan. "But imagine it like it was rain"

"What?" Peter and Ben said in confused unison.

"Imagine it was like rain. Imagine that there are two people you want the best for, two people who've had a very hard time of it lately and have been living in apprehension about bad weather."

"A-are you being serious?" Peter asked. He was somewhere between confused, incredulous and annoyed. Trainer shrugged

"Sorry, this is the best analogy I can come up with."

Peter turned to Ben who shrugged himself.

"Just hear him out Pete." With an eyebrow raised Peter turned back to Trainer and gave a small nod, indicating that he should continue.

"Ahem. Where was I? Ah yes. So these two people have been living in fear over possible bad weather but they are pleased to learn that the forecasts expect clear skies and sunshine for the foreseeable future. And after even more hard times those two people want nothing more than to simply go out and enjoy the sunshine. But the man who told them about the good weather is all too aware that there is a highly remote possibility that the weather might turn. Would you then insist to them to take an umbrella? Or would you not simply naturally keep one on standby, ready to give it to those people when and if the weather turns? It wasn't like I sent you and Mary Jane out blindly when the sky was dark with rainclouds Peter."

Peter looked sceptical, but decided to move on to another question worrying him.

"If the radiation in essentially harmless in small enough doses, why did it harm Mary Jane?"

Trainer answered almost methodically.

"To correct you for a moment Peter, it wasn't the radioactive traces themselves which were harming Mary Jane. She was harmed by her normal hormonal changes reacting adversely due to their presence. Mary Jane had heightened hormonal activity in her body due to her pregnancy. The radiation in her blood stream was not harmful in and of itself and her body easily produced antibodies to it which kept her safe. However her body identified the source of the radiation as the foetus and so the hormones kicked her immune system into overdrive and tried to harm the baby which had a knock on affect upon Mary Jane endangering both of their lives.

My antidote utilised aspects of ISO-36 to neutralise the radioactive traces in Mary Jane's bloodstream and also within the baby itself. It also introduced another chemical which stopped her immune system from attacking the baby and it 'turned off' the chromosome inside the baby which generated the radiation in it's blood in the first place."

"How could it generate radiation though? I'm no expert but I know enough about biology to know that we get most of the things our body needs from what we eat. That's how we have iron in our bodies; we compose it from the various foods we eat. It's not like we directly eat the metal itself. So how could Mary Jane or the baby generate radiation if they aren't eating uranium or something?"

Trainer paused for a while and rubbed his beard whilst looking downwards in thought.

"That I am not sure about to be honest. But we already know the radiation in your and Ben's blood is not like more common forms of radiation. Perhaps it self-generates or uses other chemical compounds to generate itself. After all you and Ben both possess radioactive blood so there is a case for it being generated organically since you were grown from Ben's DNA Peter. And I doubt Warren would've introduced radiation himself into his clones.

In any case, there shouldn't be any more radiation coming from the foetus and we'll be vigilante from now on to ensure it doesn't happen again. I'll even tell you how to create the antidote yourself if you want Peter or simply make more for you."

"Um...yeah...thanks Seward." Peter lowered his head. He had all his answers now. His wife and child were healthy, and what passed for his faith in Seward had been restored. And yet there was something deeper which still troubled him. Ben couldn't figure it out, but Trainer saw it in Peter. It was a concern he could recognise as an older man who had been young and full of hopes for the future once. He moved forward and placed a hand on Peter's shoulder and spoke firmly but with a consoling element to his voice.

"Peter please listen to me. What happened to Mary Jane was not your fault. Every pregnancy carries risks. But the rewards if all goes well are...well they are worth it."

He lowered his eyes for a moment.

"I was simply too damn stupid to see that when I was your age."

Peter looked up and his and Ben's eyes met for a moment. They both knew Trainer was referring to his own daughter and the miserable job he did as a father to her. Trainer's eye raised and he straightened up his posture slightly, as if this would give his words more authority.

"So don't you worry too much about letting MJ touch your blood, and don't feel like this means you shouldn't have another baby if you want to. There are many possibilities for conceiving a child with your unique genetics. Some are dangerous some are not. Even this scenario was highly unlikely. I wasn't expecting with any certainty the baby would generate radiation due to having your genetic coding. It may well be a recessive gene the next baby won't inherit at all. Just be careful and do your best. And if this happens again, well you have the antidote now don't you?"

Peter gently nodded his head

"Thanks Trai- Seward"

"Parenthood, like life, doesn't come with a rule book Peter. There are always risks no matter what and all any of us can do is our best and take it one day at a time."

"One day at a time...but that doesn't mean I can't prepare for the future..."

"Excuse me?"

An odd distant look had crossed over Peter's face as if a light bulb in his head hadn't so much just turned on, but was slowly but surely getting brighter and brighter as an idea formed.

"Seward, you've got connections in the scientific world right?"

"That I do. Yes."

"Do you know of a company called General Techtronics?"

Ben's eyes widened and his head tilted to the side as he locked eyes with Peter and gave him a quizzical stare. Seward however simply rubbed his bearded chin again and looked upwards in thought.

"Hmmm...yes...yes I do. I'm afraid they aren't around anymore though."

"Oh..." Peter did his best to cover up his disappointment. Trainer's expression though didn't change at all.

"Yes, there was a merger and they are called Garrid now. Why do you ask?"

Peter's eyes lit back up.

"Garrid. Alright." He said more to himself than Seward or Ben. "Seward do you think you could maybe get my foot in the door there?"

Trainer looked surprised. "At Garrid? Probably, but you'd still need to lobby hard for a position. Competition is tough even for someone as skilled as you or Ben."

"I'll find a way" Peter began to head out the door. "Thanks again Seward. See ya Ben"

"Peter wait!" called out Ben. Peter paused halfway out the door.

"General Techtronics...Garrid...They were the company that-"

"That developed the machine which irradiated our old friend the spider." Intercut Peter.

"Why do you want a job with those guys?"

"That baby is of my irradiated blood Ben. It has my mutated genetics. It may well inherit our abilities. Heck since it's a second generation it might not be exactly like you or me. For all we know it might sprout hairy legs on it's thirteenth birthday. I've got to find out more about the process which turned me, er...you, into Spider-Man. If I can do that I can find out more about yo- I mean me and therefore do my best to prepare for anything your little niece or nephew might face."

"That...That's actually really smart Peter"

Peter smiled properly for the first time since he'd entered the lab.

"Well you don't have to sound so surprised. I mean if you think I'm a dummy what does that make you?"

"Point taken. But seriously Peter that's..." Ben's face displayed a look of pride and admiration. "...Well that's really responsible."

"Well Benjy boy what can I say. After all, that baby...is my _greatest_ responsibility."

Peter left the lab.


	13. Chapter 13: Night Visit

**_In the middle of the night Mary Jane is awoken by a visit from Peter Parker, but what's caused him to call on her at such a late hour_**

 _This is a pseudo follow up to the previous chapters beginning with "Just one more!"._

 _For context's case imagine this story takes place some undisclosed amount of time in the future where Peter and Mary Jane have gotten back together._

* * *

Several loud knocks awoke Mary Jane. Turning over in her bed she glanced at her clock and realising how late it was, assumed she'd dreamt the noise, and tried to go back to sleep. She'd barely closed her eyes again when the knocking sounded again.

Rubbing her eyes to wake herself up and throwing on a night robe, MJ padded across the pitch black apartment floor. Reaching the door she peered through the spy hole and was taken aback by what she saw. She unlocked the door and opened it.

"Tiger...?"

Peter stood in the dark hallway looking dishevelled and quite terrible. He was shaking slightly and almost seemed like he was trying to catch his breath.

"Peter...what...what're you doing here? It's 3 a.m."

"I...I just..." Peter was taking deep rattling breaths, and almost seemed like he was on the verge of tears. He breathed in deeply for a moment and met MJ's concerned gaze. Suddenly he embraced her and entered the apartment.

MJ knew Peter wasn't using his spider strength but the hug was very tight all the same. MJ wasn't sure what was going on but instinctively she raised her arms and put them around Peter. In that moment he loosened his grip and to MJ's surprise began kissing her neck.

"Peter...stop!"

Peter stopped and pulled back from MJ immediately, letting go of her. He bowed his head and put his hands on the back of his neck as if in pain. He began to shake a little more, and MJ suddenly realised he was starting to sob.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I...I-"

"Shhhhh" MJ whispered as she came closer to Peter and placed her hands around his face, lifting it up to meet her's.

"It's okay." She whispered reassuringly. "It's okay."

Peter steadily lowered his hands and as he did so MJ hugged him tight. He returned the hug, gradually halting his sobbing.

After a minute or two, MJ gently pulled away and again placed her hands around Peter's face aging, bringing it close to hers.

"Come and sit down okay." Peter nodded, almost like a child.

MJ closed the door and then took Peter's hand, leading him to the couch in front of her TV. For a while Peter just stared straight ahead into the darkness whilst MJ rubbed his back gently. Eventually MJ broke the silence.

"Peter what's wrong? What happened?"

Peter gulped and then took a deep breath.

"I...I was in Times Square. I was fighting...Mysterio and he..." Peter closed his eyes as if in pain. MJ leaned in towards Peter and spoke gently.

"What? What did he do?"

"He...he used some kind of...I dunno, hallucinogen I guess. It...It made me see stuff...horrible stuff..."

MJ took Peter's hand and gently squeezed. She wasn't sure if it was to reassure Peter or herself.

"Was...Was it your Aunt May? Did he make you see her getting...hurt?"

Peter bowed his head again and lightly shook it.

"Well then...your uncle?"

Peter shook his head again.

"No...He...he made me see...you..."

MJ's eyes widened in the darkness.

"He...I mean I don't think he knew what I saw but...I saw you die MJ..."

This time MJ gulped.

"I saw you die right in front of me and I couldn't do anything to..." Peter began to slightly sob again and put his head in his hands.

MJ wrapped her arms around him and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Oh God. Peter please, its okay. It's okay." Her voice was shaky despite her attempts to reassure him. She was freaked out herself merely hearing about this and could only imagine how Peter felt. She took his hands and gently lowered them from his face.

"I'm fine see. I'm fine."

She pulled his head close to hers kissed him a few times, as if to prove her own words.

"I'm fine. And you're fine. It was just...Just a-"

"It was the _worst_ MJ..."

Mary Jane didn't know what to say to this so she just stared into Peter's face, as if hoping he'd give her some indication of what to do.

"And it...It made me think about what you said last week. About how we wasted time being apart for so long."

MJ remembered the conversation they'd had in her bedroom the week before and how it had been _Peter_ at the time who was reassuring _her._

"When...When I saw you there. When I thought you were dead. All those moments you were in L.A., or with Pedro, or when I was with Carlie, or when we were just dancing around each other...that was all I could think about. And about how I hated myself for not doing something different back then so that I could be with you."

MJ opened her mouth, but closed it again.

"That...That's why I had to come here. I had to see you. I had to...to..."

"To make sure I was...okay?"

Peter nodded.

"I had to make sure you were okay and real and...I needed you... And right now I hate myself for that."

"What!" MJ exclaimed in a whisper. "Why? Why would you ha-"

"Because if I was...I dunno." Peter shrugged. "If I was less selfish, or less irresponsible, or...or _something_. If I could make myself leave you alone-"

"Oh Peter-"

"If I was strong enough to leave you alone and then you'd never be in danger and then I'd never have to see you get hu-"

"Peter _listen_ to me!"

Peter stopped talking and turned to face MJ who's raised her voice

"Do you really think cutting yourself off from me would make things better? You really think you'd be being Mr. Responsible by staying away from me?"

Peter stared at her stony faced and MJ began to get angry, small tears building in her eyes.

"Why don't you try that Peter? Why don't you try staying away from me? In fact why don't you stay away from Aunt May too? And Betty. And Glory, and Randy and Robbie and everyone else. Go on, go into isolation. _That'll_ keep us all safe right?"

"It...It-" Peter tried to reply but MJ didn't give him the chance.

"Shut up, alright!" Peter didn't need to see MJ's face in the dark apartment to tell she was scowling. "I know you as well as anyone ever could and let me tell you something alright! You _need_ people. You wouldn't last by yourself and you'd go crazy if you were all alone. And then what good would you be to anyone. How many people would die because Spider-Man was too off the rails to actually help anyone? _That_ would be you being selfish. So stop beating yourself up and painting yourself as the bad guy because _you_ are not the bad guy Peter Parker. _You_ are a goddam hero and it makes me so angry when people give you crap you don't deserve. But you know what? Sometimes it gets me even angrier that after all this time _you_ give yourself crap you don't deserve."

"I-"

" _I'm not done yet!_ You deserve to be happy and we both know _I_ make you happy. We both know _you_ need _me._ You cut yourself off from me I would never, ever forgive you because I _know_ it'd mean you were lesser for it and other people would suffer because you were off your A-game." Peter could hear MJ breathing heavily through her nostrils, gearing up for another assault. "And on top of that, guess what tiger, _you_ make _me_ happy too. And for all the baggage that comes with you, I would honestly risk my life everyday if it meant I could spend an hour being happy with you rather than the rest of my life miserable without you. _I_ knew what I was getting into and _I_ chose this okay! So don't you _dare_ take that away from me. After all I've done for you and everyone else I _deserve_ to be happy. "

Peter's demeanour had utterly changed. He looked both taken aback and almost comically scared of the scowling MJ.

"I...I'm sorry" Was all he could say after awhile. MJ leaned back and crossed her arms, not looking directly at Peter.

"Yeah well...Next time don't beat yourself as much...There's no shortage of people who want to do that already..."

Peter chuckled. MJ could tell he was still not completely alright.

But she also knew Peter well enough to know he would be.

"I...I guess I should be going. It's pretty late." Peter made to get up.

"Don't be stupid." Said MJ firmly. She got up and padded over to her bedroom door.

"If you'd like...we could make _absolutely_ sure this is no hallucination."

She went into the room and a moment or two later Peter followed her in.


	14. Chapter 14: The Long Road Home

**_Peter Parker is dead set on seeing a certain special lady in his life, but life seems to be determined to get in his way._**

 _This takes place an indiscriminate amount of time into the future_

 _Please leave feedback._

* * *

Peter Parker made his way through the bustling newsroom as fast as he could.

"Hey Pete." Called out a familiar friendly voice.

"Hi Betty."

"How're you? How was the assign-"

Peter didn't even slow down, merely calling over his shoulder. "Sorry. Don't wanna be rude Betty, but I'm kinda in a rush. I've got an appointment with a certain lady I don't wanna let down."

"Well, so much for being friendly." Said Betty in a huffy voice. Peter did stop at this and turned around only to see that she'd stormed off. He sighed and continued on his way, finally reaching the office of Joe Robertson.

After making pleasantries and handing over his photos, Peter waited impatiently as Robbie looked through his pictures. Despite himself, he couldn't suppress a yawn.

"Am I boring you?" Asked Robbie. Peter's cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"Sorry, Robbie. I'm just kinda tired from the plane ride."

Robbie leaned back in his chair and raised an eyebrow. "You know you didn't have to catch the _very_ first flight you could. Scotland's a long way away. I think even Jonah would've understood if you'd gotten some shut eye after you're assignment and flown back this morning."

"Yeah, but he isn't complaining I made it back here in time for the evening edition. I could tell because he didn't say anything more colourful than 'What're you hanging around here for? Get out there and get back to work!'"

Robbie sighed deeply. "Jonah will never change. He's old school. Trust me, insisting his photographers deliver pictures by hand is the least of his 'flaws'. I'm just sorry you didn't go home first."

"Truth be told, I needed to come into the city anyway. I got a delivery to pick up from here."

"What kind of delivery?"

"A necklace from this little Scottish village. Mary Jane has one from our second Honeymoon there. May took a real shining to it recently so I got her one for her birthday. I tried to send it over so it'd arrive before today, but then the mooks delivering it messed up and sent it to Manhattan and not Forest Hills."

"I forgot it's May's birthday tod- Ah...you caught an earlier flight so you could see her today."

Peter held up his hands in mock confession. "You got me Robbie."

Robbie smiled. "Well, don't keep her waiting." He gestured towards the door. "Take care son. And give her my love."

With that Peter waved goodbye and headed out. It was 15:30. Plenty of time to get May's present and get home. And being tired as he was, Peter thought he'd actually trust in public transport for a change rather than using his own unique method of travel. He might get home a little later than he would otherwise, but it would still leave plenty of time before May usually hit the sack.

However, as if to mock him, Peter arrived at the elevator just a second too late and it left without him. He turned to check the other one, only to remember just then that it was out of order. He hit the call button and stepped back to wait for the working elevator to return.

Observing the lights above the doors he saw it had gone just one floor down. But just as his spirits perked up...the elevator went down to the next floor...And then the next...And then the next...

After almost five minutes (in which Peter had been joined by several Bugle employees) the elevator hit the ground floor and began its ascent back up the Bugle. However it barely made it two floors up before stopping and then resuming its methodical journey one floor at a time. Stubbornly, (and still tired from the flight) Peter continued to wait, refusing to take the long climb down the stairs or head up to the roof and begin swinging his way across down. If nothing else he didn't want to risk getting distracted by some crisis he might encounter along the way.

Finally, another five minutes later, the elevator reached Peter's floor. Peter slightly tensed himself, ready to get into the carriage before the dozen or so Bugle employees that now surrounded him swarmed in. But just as the door opened...

" _Peter!_ "

Peter whipped round at the sound of his name and came face to face with Betty.

"Hey, look Pete I'm sorry I got ticked off on you earlier. Robbie reminded me about May and I should've realized you'd be in a rush."

Peter's frustrated features softened, "Ah, water under the bridge Betts." He gave her a friendly pat on the arm.

"Well, I gotta get back to work." Betty began to turn away and head off, briefly waving back. "Wish May a happy birthday from me."

"Will do Betts. Catch you...later?" Turning around Peter saw metallic doors shut together in his face as the elevator began another descent.

Checking his watch and seeing it was 16:05 Peter concluded the stairs would've been quicker after all. Especially since he'd taken most of them when the elevator, like its companion, had stopped working a mere three floors down. At that moment though, he was just thankful for getting out at all, not to mention that he'd packed very light for his assignment and could carry his luggage in a large rucksack.

It took Peter another twenty minutes to locate the delivery place where the necklace was being held...And another twenty to get in the right line...And another twenty to sort out all the necessary paper work...

Finally Peter emerged with the necklace wrapped up in his pocket. He was feeling genuinely exhausted now, as though he'd gone a few rounds with the Rhino (just about the last person he wanted to see right now). He spent a while hailing a cab but finally snagged one, directing it towards Forest Hills Queens.

17:30 had come and gone, but there was still plenty of time to see May. And in the meantime Peter could relax on the journey home. In fact, he was so tired his eyes began to droop. The last thing he saw before nodding off was a bill board advertising some perfume called 'Emma Rose', the bottom right corner of which had been torn, obscuring half the model's face.

* * *

After a particularly loud honk from a car horn, Peter awoke with a start. He noted blearily that it was now 18:02 and that he was stuck in a traffic jam. He shrugged nonchalantly. He'd be home soon enough, so what was a little traffic jam en route? He lay back in his seat, his heard turned towards the window. Closing his eyes again, he just caught the blurred outline of another bill board advertising the same perfume...

Two seconds later he sat bolt upright and looked back at the billboard. Its bottom right corner was torn, and he couldn't see half of the model's face.

Comprehension hit him like a freight train.

"What's going on pal!?" He yelled at the driver. "We've barely moved!"

"Some kind of filming or dispute is going on up ahead. Everything's stopped."

" _Arghhhh!_ " Peter gathered up his rucksack and prepared to head for the door.

"Hey! Cash man!" Called the driver. Peter hastily threw a bill at the driver and leaned towards the door. "You kidding me?" Peter looked back at the driver then at the display of his fare. He groaned handing over far too much for a trip which had taken him barely half a mile.

Having gotten to the sidewalk Peter frantically got his bearings and headed towards the nearest subway. Cursing himself for having not done this from the start he headed towards the appropriate platform and waited. Thankfully a train arrived pretty quickly. Not so thankfully it was so full that he'd have a tough time squeezing in when the passengers on board disembarked. It was a problem he didn't have to deal with however as apparently none of the passengers were interested in actually leaving the train just then.

18:20.

The next train thankfully had some space for Peter and, rucksack in tow, he manoeuvred himself into a carriage. Peter breathed easy...for about fifteen minutes. That was when an announcement sounded out, alerting the passengers that some accident had caused all trains to be stopped at their nearest stations until further notice. Peter plodded his way topside disbelieving that even _his_ legendary bad luck could be quite this bad.

Seeing it was now almost 18:45 he relented at last. Heading into an alley way he changed into his Spider-Man outfit, secured his rucksack and hit the skyline. He was tired for sure, but now he was more frustrated than anything.

Most of his day had been eaten up already and he'd wanted more than just an hour or two with May before it got late. It wasn't fair. Not for him but especially not for her. She thought the world of Peter and adored his company. And for his part May meant the whole world to him. The thought of her had kept him going through a lot of tough times he'd had to deal with over the years. She couldn't know how much he really cared for her, or how deeply it hurt him to not spend more time with her due to his 'work'.

Still, at least he'd get to see May today and deliver her present in person. Someone as wonderful as her deserved that much from him at the very least. And at the pace Peter was going it looked like she was going to get just that. Provided there weren't any-

"OH MY GOD! HELP US! PLEASE HELP US!"

-distractions.

Spidey whipped his head round and saw black smoke billowing from a building ahead of him and a couple of blocks to his left. He made his way there and saw a blazing inferno, and a teenage girl screaming from a window near the top.

He threw off his rucksack, depositing it on a nearby roof and leapt into action.

* * *

"Thank you! God bless you Spider-Man."

Peter had lost count of how many people he'd helped the fire fighters evacuate from the building. Thirty at the very least he reckoned. He'd mainly worked the upper floors no one else could reach, dousing the flames with liberal amounts of webbing as he went about his work.

He waved off the grateful woman who'd thanked him, and turned to one of the fire fighters.

"Anyone else?"

"Nope." She replied. "That was everyone. Hey, thanks again man. Without you we-"

"Don't mention it. You got the time?"

His abruptness had taken her aback, but she replied all the same. "Last I checked it was 19:20...but I think that was like 10 minutes ago."

" _Ohhhhhhh..._ " Groaned Spider-Man. "Hey, you guys think you have it from here?"

"Oh sure. Why? You got some-" But Spidey had already turned around and swung off.

He snatched up his rucksack and began a series of particularly long leaps and bounds across the rooftops, making up for lost time.

About fifteen minutes later though he noted an alarm blaring below him and saw two men run out of a dime store and onto a motorcycle, their guns pointing at whoever was still in the store. Spidey switched direction and pursued them. He only got about a block before running out of webbing and had to use some canopies and flagpoles to break his fall. He fumbled around his belt for some spare cartridges before realizing he was all out, though there were spares in his rucksack...somewhere.

Without thinking and seeing the criminals continuing to flee, Spidey hit the ground and began running after them.

Whilst his super human physiology meant that his sprints and leaps could keep up with the motorcycle, it was certainly slower than if he'd taken the time to find his spare cartridges. That being said once he caught up with the punks knocking them out was a relatively quick affair. It actually took more time to find his cartridges, load them into his web-shooters and web the goons up.

Barely registering the applause he was receiving from the surrounding onlookers, Spidey repacked his rucksack and once more swung away.

20:05.

May had stayed up later than usual on her birthdays before, especially on the weekends. Hopefully this year would be the same, so if he just really put on the speed he'd be there before-

"Help!"

"Run!"

"This can't be happening."

" _WHAT!_ " Screamed Peter.

"What is it now huh?! A plane crash? An alien invasion? A kitten stuck in the tree? _What else could I possibly have to deal with today!?_ "

That was when he saw Rhino stomping around on the ground.

* * *

At 21:00 Peter wasn't sure if he'd ever been more glad to see the Parker Family home where he, Aunt May and Uncle Ben had spent many great years. He held no delusions that anyone was still awake but after all he'd been through reaching the house was as much about principle as May's present.

Peter whole body ached with tiredness as he walked up the street towards the house. He'd managed to evade Rhino's blows and subdue him but the weight of the battle, the robbery, the fire, the web-swinging, the plane flight, the train accident and the cab journey had all taken its toll on him.

He was so tired in fact that he didn't immediately notice the lights on in the house as he climbed the porch. Or for that matter, the voices emanating from inside as he fished for his keys.

When he did though, it was as if a bolt of electricity had shot through him. He listened closely to the voices from inside the house. One of them was definitely Mary Jane's, and the other was...So it wasn't too late after all!

He dumped his rucksack at the side of the door, smartened himself up as best he could, and rang the door bell.

Moments later Mary Jane opened the door. She looked surprised when she saw Peter, but managed to keep a straight face, catching on when he quickly put his finger to his lips.

"Well, look who it is." She said over her shoulder. She stood aside and opened the door fully, giving a full view of Peter. He gave a friendly wave and the warmest smile of his life.

"Hey pretty lady. Sorry I'm late."

May gasped. Peter strode into the house and scooped her into a tight hug, one that she all too eagerly returned.

"You're here! But I thought you couldn't come until tomorrow?" Her face was aglow with delight and it made Peter forget all about his fatigue.

"I wasn't gonna miss my favourite gal's big day was I? Speaking of which, I might just have something for you. That is if you could score me a date with your cute friend?"

He winked at Mary Jane. She flashed him a smile worthy of the red carpet.

"I think she already likes you anyway." Laughed May.

"Well in that case."

Peter reached into his pocket and handed over the present.

"Happy birthday."

May curiously unwrapped the present and gasped again when she laid eyes on the necklace. For a moment or two she just stared transfixed at it. Finally, she was snapped out of her trance by MJ who gave a knowing little cough and gave May a knowing look before nodding her head towards Peter.

At this, May promptly hugged Peter again and planted an affectionate kiss on his cheek.

"Thank you... Daddy!"


	15. Chapter 15: Waiting by the Window

**_Once upon a time Mary Jane used to spend her nights waiting and worrying about her husband, the Amazing Spider-Man. But now that their daughter Mayday has followed in his footsteps, things have changed..._**

 _This story takes place in the MC2 Universe, in the Spider-Girl continuity at a point after Spider-Girl: the End_

* * *

Mary Jane was in that annoying moment between being asleep and beginning to wake up.

She'd been blissfully dreaming about when May was eight, playing with her first basketball in the back yard of their Forest Hills home. This being a dream, little Mayday had somehow leapt twenty feet into the air, scoring a slam dunk on the impossibly high basket. But as she'd delightedly run towards the applauding Mary Jane and Peter the ground between them had begun to split apart.

The chasm had opened further and further, and no matter how far they reached out, neither Peter nor MJ could get to May. Then, rising from the ground behind May like a corpse, came the Goblin; his neck thrown back in an awful cackling laugh. As he reached out for May, she'd screamed, Peter had yelled, and Mary Jane...had woken up.

It hadn't been like other times Mary Jane had experienced similar nightmares. She hadn't sat bolt upright in bed covered in sweat and yelling her head off. The truth was MJ had endured so many similar nights like this over the years that in her old age they didn't faze her as much. She'd simply woken up with a groan and groggily realized it had after all just been a dream. She hadn't given a second thought to simply turning her head on her pillow and going back to sleep.

Or rather, attempting to go back to sleep.

Having woken up even briefly, the gears in Mary Jane's mind began slowly turning and despite herself, she was unable to drift back off. She let her eyes flicker open and spotted the clock on her bed stand.

01:47 a.m.

She groaned again, begrudging how her attempt at an early night had been thwarted. It was only then that she registered that she felt oddly cooler than she should do. And the room was quieter too. She leaned up on her arm and looked over her shoulder. Peter wasn't in bed.

That hadn't been an uncommon sight during their marriage. Being Spider-Man had meant that frequently Peter had either gotten to bed late or left in the middle of the night for one reason or another. This however had changed when he'd retired from costumed crime fighting well over ten years ago following the loss of his leg.

Curious and concerned, Mary Jane got up and checked the bathroom. Finding no sign of Peter she pulled on her dressing gown and looked in May's room. He wasn't there either, nor was May for that matter.

She headed down stairs and slowly opened the door to the kitchen. The curtains of the windows facing out onto the back yard were drawn open letting in silvery moonlight. Mary Jane could see the basketball hoop casting a shadow into the kitchen and dividing the breakfast table across the middle. Staring out of the window on one side of this divide sat Peter, his hand resting on his walking stick.

"Tiger?" whispered MJ.

He turned around slowly, a look of mild surprise on his face.

"Oh, hi sweetheart."

"What are you doing up this late?" It was a mark of how tired MJ was that she had to ask this question at all.

"I'm just...I couldn't sleep."

The wheels began turning in MJ's sleepy head and she suddenly worked out what was happening.

"Are you waiting for May?"

Peter gave a small solemn nod. His face seemed calm but MJ had known Peter long enough to see the concern in his eyes, even in the dim light. She sighed and padded over to the kitchen. She brought back some glasses, handing one to Peter as she sat down next to him. Peter took a sip before standing up and stretching; evidently he'd been sitting there for a long while. They'd gone to bed around 22:00 but MJ guessed that he'd only been in bed for an hour or so.

"It's Saturday night Peter. When we gave her permission to 'join the family business' we said she could stay out a bit later on weekends."

"Yeah but this is cutting it close."

Peter sipped his water.

"You said it yourself when you began taking a more active hand with her. She's a natural. Maybe better than you were at her age. She knows not to get herself in over her head. She'll be fine."

Mary Jane hoped she sounded sufficiently convincing because these words had never fully stopped her from worrying either.

"I know. I know I just...I can't help but think what it was like for me and...I'm always scared MJ. Always."

MJ took a sip from her own glass.

"Peter, we've been scared ever since the day we found out I was pregnant."

Peter gave a tiny chuff through his nose at this. MJ understood it to mean that in some way she had made him feel better. For the longest time after that they remained silent, simply gazing out of the window.

"Was this what it was like for you?"

Mary Jane blinked. The question had been so unexpected in the middle of the silence she hadn't quite registered it.

"What do you mean?"

Peter turned to look down into her eyes. MJ could see the subtle apprehension in his face.

"Staying up night after night. Worried sick that I might..." He closed his eyes and gripped his glass a little tighter for a moment. "How did you do it? All those years after we got married? Even before that? How could you cope with...with this?" He inclined his head slightly towards the window.

MJ considered the question for a few seconds and then just shrugged.

"...I tried most nights not to think about it, especially before I told you I knew. After that it became...tougher..." A steely expression came over MJ's face as she looked back at Peter. She saw the sad guilt flicker through him and felt bad. Nevertheless, she remained silent and didn't look away. At least not until Peter broke their gaze and peered down into his glass.

"...I'm sorry...I'm sorry for putting you through that...through this."

Mary Jane placed her glass on the table and stood up, putting her hand atop of Peter's on his cane.

"I knew what I was getting into. I even knew what might happen when we had May."

Peter looked back up into her face.

"I dunno if I would've married you if I'd known what this was like." His voice was shaking ever so slightly. MJ stroked his face with her other hand.

"You knew enough. Deep down so did I for the longest time. I kept telling myself you and me couldn't work because I couldn't live with the fear of what might happen to you. The truth was I had been living with it for a long time. I was really just scared of...well..."

"...Of ending up like your Mom?"

MJ's eyes narrowed a little as she nodded.

"...Yeah...But I'm _not_ like her. Or like Gayle." She felt Peter's hand tense on the cane. Then the steely look came over her face again. "And you aren't like my father either Peter."

Mary Jane saw the corners of Peter's mouth twinge in a smile he decided not to follow through on. MJ let go of his hand after that and they stood together watching the skies out the window for a few more minutes. Peter was still staring outwards towards the skies when he broke the silence once more.

"Maybe...maybe we should try to talk her out of this again?"

Mary Jane waited until she'd picked her glass back up and taken a sip to reply.

"I never tried to talk _you_ out of it."

Peter wore a look of mild disbelief.

"That's not exactly true."

MJ arched an eyebrow.

"Sure it is. I might've told you to take a break from time to time but I never asked you to outright quit."

Peter seemed a little taken aback by this. For a moment or two he said nothing and MJ suspected he was racking his memories to verify this.

"...Well...okay...but this is different. _I_ knew what I was doing."

MJ shot him a brief condescending look before regaining her serene composure.

"Not at her age you didn't. Come to think of it..." She tilted her head in a mock inquisitive fashion. "I seem to recall you were still learning a thing or two even after college." She kept her eyes on Peter whilst taking yet another sip from her glass.

"I thought you didn't want her to go into the family business." Peter's voice was a little cold when he said this. It gave MJ pause to consider her next words a little more carefully.

"...When all is said and done...no I don't...But we also can't do anything to stop her."

Peter's expression softened at this. There was sadness there, maybe even a little desperation. MJ adopted a consoling demeanour and was suddenly hit with memories of Aunt May.

"Tiger...we burned all the stuff from that part of your life after May got her powers. She just went out there in a leotard and ski mask. _Then_ she made a suit of her own." She shrugged. "Whatever we do she'd find a way to ...well...be who we raised her to be."

Peter gave a chuff of laughter.

"I guess we did too good of a job."

"Seems so." Mary Jane smiled warmly. She drained the remains of her glass and put it in the sink. "You coming up?" She asked.

Peter's looked down at his own glass for a second and before turning back to the window.

"...I think I'll wait just a little while longer." He sat back down at the table and gave a little upwards nod. "You go on ahead."

But MJ did not leave. Instead she gently moved her chair around to Peter's side of the table and sat down, linking her arm in his. Together they stared off out the window and into the sky, hoping soon to see a lithe silhouette swinging towards them amidst moonlight.


End file.
